Hope of Shadows
by HopeKrystalHeart
Summary: Hope is a hedgehog girl who has no memory of her past and before her are two choices: Dr. Eggman, and Sonic. Only problem is, she hates them both... Or is there a third option in this war of good vs. evil? Can Hope recover her memories, if there are any?
1. Chapter 1

Rouge dropped into the main room of ARK, wrecking all of the robots in her way. She smiled to herself, "Well now, Eggy must have something important he's hiding here." Rouge moved closer to the large computer, suspended in air and only held up by the zero gravity of space as well as the walkway that leads up to it. She hacked into the computer expertly, reciting the password aloud as she typed. She found her way along the supercomputer, and hummed a little victory tune. She searched along through Dr. Eggman's files, searching for a specific one. Rouge's song became one of frustration, as the specific file could not be found. The white bat heard some footsteps behind her, and she spun on her heels to see a black and red hedgehog, giving her a suspicious look. "Oh, Shadow. It's just you."

"What are you doing here, Rouge?" Shadow asked.

"Nothing of much importance," Rouge lied, turning her back to her skeptical visitor, "Just some research for G.U.N."

"G.U.N. is never interested in anything of little importance." Shadow replied, calling her bluff, "What's the real reason you're here?"

"Pfft, you're no fun, Shadow." Rouge smirked, "But I'm sure you can assume that it's about the good ole' doctor. He hasn't done anything for the past few months, and we're starting to get concerned for his well-being." Shadow scoffed, knowing full well that G.U.N., as well as everyone else, only wanted Dr. Eggman six feet under. "Only problem is, I haven't found a single new file on his hard drive, let alone the one I'm looking for." Rouge paused for a moment, "I find it odd that G.U.N. knows exactly what file they want me to look for. Considering that they always have one of the Freedom Fighters get the research for them, and G.U.N. just takes what they find."

"Heh, just like the government to send out minions to do their bidding." Shadow smirked, not caring for G.U.N. at all.

"You're not over the one incident you had with them, are you?" Rouge asked, referring to when G.U.N.'s commander attempted to kill Shadow when the black arms had invaded Mobias. Shadow just gave her a condescending look, she turning back to her task sighed, "You could just say 'no'."

"You already knew the answer." Shadow replied rashly, when something caught his eye, "Wait a second Rouge."

"Hmm?"

Shadow looked closer at the screen, "Since when did Dr. Eggman have a file called 'Hope'?"

"Huh? Where'd you find that?"

"Second file from the top." He replied, and pointed vaguely at the screen with his head.

Rouge looked, "It looks like that's what I'm looking for." She smiled victoriously and copied the file onto her flashdrive. She recovered the disc and exited out of the terminal and shut the computer off. Pocketing the disc, the bat flew out of the room, and left Shadow alone with the computer. Shadow, slightly curious about the file, promptly left ARK. Had he known what the file was, he would've deleted it right then and there. But, of course, that would've left this story without the beginning and ending.


	2. Chapter 2

Ambition is the mother of invention, and every being on Mobias knew who seemed to have the most of it- and the one least likely to have success: The infamous Dr. Eggman.

Dr. Eggman entered his laboratory, and he strode through the mess of research and mechanics; knowing that the time was near; the time where he knew that he would succeed in his endeavors: making the greatest empire the world could ever hope for. The Eggman Empire, being its name. Nothing could make his plan fail, not even the pesky government or the rabble who calls themselves Freedom Fighters. Today, he was sure, he would make history.

He booted up the computer and placed a variety of colored quills and hairs into different tubes, that filled up with a clear liquid once they were capped. He grinned maniacally, and mad doctor pushed a single red button that was previously protected by a glass covering. Machines whirred tirelessly. A pod-like machine filled up with liquid, and then a single small blob of matter began to take form.

Dr. Eggman's grin widened and grew wilder, but all changed as the alarms sounded. Shouting insanely at his robot servants, he ordered them to destroy any pest that may attempt to wreck his little surprise for Mobias. Afraid of the intruder being his only nemesis; Dr. Eggman threw a metallic covering over his precious machine: The one that would create his most magnificent creation yet. No sooner had he when an all-too-familiar voice piped up, "Hey, Doc! Did'ya miss me?"

Dr. Eggman, shouting more out of habit than of actual shock, "Sonic?!"

"Bingo." Sonic smiled from a lower deck, "Now, we might as well get this over with; you send out your newest robot, I beat the smithereens out of it, then I leave."

"Not likely, not this time, Sonic." Dr. Eggman replied with a smirk.

"What? Surely you haven't been doing nothing for the past few months." Sonic remarked, after a pause he scoffed, "That's just LAME, Doctor. And to think I came all the way up here for nothing."

"Oho, but you didn't." Dr. Eggman's evil grin returned, as he noticed that Sonic was standing on a specific tile, or rather two tiles, Dr. Eggman pushed his ever-ready button. A gap opened up beneath Sonic, and the doctor called down after him, "Have fun!"

Dr. Eggman, now seeing that the only threat to his work was gone, continued on his project.

Sonic fell through the trapdoor, tumbling through pipes until he ended up in a cell. The bars were made of a blue plasma that stuck to anything that tried to pass it- as Tails, a young fox, as well as Sonic's best friend, had just found out. The poor yellow fox was stuck between two blue plasma bars that seemed to have gooped onto him. Sonic chuckled at the look of his friend, "Gee Tails, I never knew that you'd go for my look."

"Ha-ha, Sonic." Tails faked a laugh, "Could you help me get out of this mess?"

"Any time, bud." Sonic nodded. He walked over to his twin-tailed friend and pushed him out into the open, not only making Tails' situation worse, he now being unable to move because of all the plasma that had hardened around him, but the bars grew back, thus keeping Sonic contained. Now seeing how dumb his action was he scratched his head, "Uh... Sorry, Tails."

His young, and now stuck, friend sighed, "It's OK. You were trying to help."

"Currently, I can only imagine one thing that could make this worse." Sonic said, sitting down on the cold metal. Seeing a figure enter the room, Sonic's expression flattened into a not-amused look, "And it just happened."

A black and red hedgehog entered the room, looked at the two incarcerated creatures and laughed. Tails muttered, "Oh... Hi, Shadow."

Sonic grumbled and waited for Shadow to stop laughing. Then he asked, "Do you mind helping us out of this?"

Shadow smirked, "You're the hero of Mobias, help yourself out."

"Oh, it's SO nice to know that there are people you can depend on to get you out of messes." Sonic scoffed sarcastically.

Shadow's smirked remained and he watched Sonic attempt to get out without touching any of the bars, which were designed to NOT be avoidable. Getting himself stuck between the plasma bars Sonic repeated his question, adding a please at the end this time. Shadow chuckled at Sonic, "Pathetic." He grabbed a lever on the ground and pushed it away from himself. The plasma bars hardened and cracked, and finally turned into dust.

Sonic, dusting himself off mumbled his thanks and then proceeded to help Tails get free. Sonic, about to ask Shadow what he was doing on the Eggfleet, looked up to see that the black hedgehog had left. Tails, now freed from his prison, stood up and rubbed dust and rubble off his head and turned to look at Sonic, "What's the matter?"

"Just curious on why Shadow was up here in the first place." Sonic replied.

"He probably just went up to ARK." Tails shrugged, "Dr. Eggman does have a teleporter to get there."

"True, but then why not use G.U.N.'s?" Sonic questioned, then shrugged, "Ah, well. That doesn't matter." He turned to his friend, "it seems like we came up here for no reason. The Doc doesn't have anything for us to wreck right now."

"Do you remember the last time when Dr. Eggman hadn't attacked in over a month?" Tails asked.

"Hoo, boy. Do I ever, that Chaos thing was a pain to beat off!" Sonic muttered, "But, Tikal's got that thing under control."

"True, but I was talking about LAST time." Tails corrected, "Dr. Eggman had done a ton of research of his Grandfather's creations."

"OH! You mean about when we met Shadow." Sonic exclaimed, recalling what had happened, "Yeah, Shadow sure was a jerk then."

"He still kinda is..." Tails observed.

"Good point, but he's not too bad of a guy, considering that he's saved the world twice."

"Yeah... He's still a jerk, though."

"Can't argue there." Sonic laughed in agreement.

The two boys walked and chatted through the hallways. Shadow, just inside a different room, had heard what they had said. He muttered, "Is there any other reason why I hate them?"

On the planet, Rouge returned to her penthouse apartment with the flash-drive. She was very curious on why the title of the file was called "Hope". It didn't make any sense to her, and anything that did make sense, was something that she'd shudder to think about.

Plugging in the flash-drive to her computer, she muttered impatiently to the machine to hurry up and load. She quickly opened the file, looking at its contents. "I know some of these files." Rouge muttered to herself, as she looked over the disc, "But... Why? And from where?" She racked her brain for answers, and came up with none. She kicked herself, "Come on, Rouge! You know this! Why can't you remember?"

We all may be thankful that she couldn't remember. Or, perhaps, we will kick her for not realising sooner, where she may have seen the same files before.


	3. Chapter 3

Dr. Eggman worked busily in the bridge of his fleet of airships, commonly known as the Eggfleet. He worked continuously, tasting the sweetness of success that had been withheld from him for so long. He dared not to uncover the machine yet, he wanted to wait for the precise moment for when to unveil it. Perhaps as a monologue to Sonic, if he isn't dead yet. Dr. Eggman perished that thought, Sonic wouldn't die yet, Dr. Eggman was entitled to send Sonic to his demise.

Buttons were pushed rapidly, and the doctor occasionally had to edit because of typos. The thrill of being able to do what his Grandfather did, to know how to do what scientists have longed to do forever: Create life from scratch.

Shadow, now on the ground beneath the Eggfleet, took his time to find his way back to the Acorn Kingdom: The only place on Mobias that was truly free of Dr. Eggman, but also the only place that he ever seemed to target.

Sonic ran up to the black hedgehog as if to hide from someone, Shadow looked at Sonic curiously, then looked ahead, and saw a bright pink hedgehog run up, she seemed ticked off, as her piko-piko hammer was out. "Shadow, where's Sonic?" She demanded.

"Right behind me, actually." Shadow reported, not even looking at the horrified blue hedgehog.

"Wait a second, Amy! I-I can explain!" Sonic blubbered, as he anticipated the onslaught of whacks from his self-proclaimed girlfriend.

"Then start, Mister!" Amy shouted, pausing only for a moment to let Sonic talk.

"Okay... Uh... I'm not sure how to say this, but... I've got something at G.U.N. that day, that time... I really can't miss it..."

Amy's hammer mysteriously disappeared and the pink hedgehog crossed her arms, "Very well, Sonic. But you MUST promise me to be there next week."

"N-next week?" Sonic asked, "Isn't that a little too soon?"

"The play's only on this week and next week, Sonic."

"Oh... er... Right... Next week it is then!" Sonic rubbed the back of his head nervously.

Amy, content, walked away towards the Acorn kingdom. Sonic walked up to Shadow, "You're a jerk, you know that."

Shadow laughed, "Only if you mean I like watching you try to talk out of going on a date with Amy, then yes."

Sonic scowled, "Well, it wouldn't be so funny if there was a girl who would never leave YOU alone."

"I will never have that problem." Shadow smiled triumphantly.

"Yeah, because everyone knows how big of a JERK you are."

"What do you mean by that?" Shadow asked, narrowing his eyes.

"You're rude, you have a weapons fetish, and you can't get over whatever happened 50 freaking years ago!" Sonic replied, "Take your pick."

Shadow frowned and turned his back to the obnoxious hedgehog, "You would have a hard time getting over it too. And I do NOT have a weapons fetish."

"Yeah, right." Sonic scoffed, "You're the only one that I know of who sleeps with a pistol under his pillow. And remind me of who it was who named every single weapon under the sun?"

"I _don't_ see your point." Shadow replied impatiently.

"And that brings us back to the first reason." Sonic mused.

"Fine. Do you want to bet on it?" Shadow asked.

"Bet? Bet on what?"

"If I can't get a date by, let's say, the end of the month, I will save your sorry arse from Amy for three months."

"And if you do?"

Shadow smiled, "Then you will make an announcement that you're engaged to Amy."

"WHAT?!" Sonic shouted, "NO WAY am I going to go along with that bet!"

"Fine. I hope you enjoy Swan Lake." Shadow smiled and started walking back towards the Acorn Kingdom.

"Wait, Shadow." Sonic finally said, "If you can get a date and not get her to run away in horror by the end of this week..." Sonic paused before continuing, "I will... marry Amy."

Shadow smiled confidently, "Very well." Turning away, he added, "You might want to have a ring ready."

Amy walked home to her apartment in a hurry. She slammed the door behind her, "Oooh, Sonic makes me so mad! It's like..." She slumped up against the door, "It's like he doesn't even like me." She stood bolt up and shook her head furiously, "No, that's impossible. There's no one else except for... Sally Acorn." Amy sighed and fell onto the floor, "Oh... Who am I kidding? I'm nothing in comparison to the princess."

The pink hedgehog got up and walked over to her computer and looked at her E-mail. Only one new E-mail, and it was from Shadow. Amy scoffed and asked herself, "Why would Shadow be E-mailing me?" She looked at the E-mail and her heart skipped a beat when she read:

Amy,  
I need to ask you a favor.  
Sonic made a bet with me that I can't get a date- blind or otherwise- in this week. I'd like to prove him wrong. Of course, he will do anything to keep me from winning.  
Shadow  
P.S. Sonic will marry you if I win. So I hope to hear from you soon.

Amy stood up in her chair and smiled, bursting with joy. "Sonic will marry me if Shadow gets a date! Oh..." Amy's mood faded with the realization, "Oh... Everyone knows Shadow... How am I going to persuade anyone to go on a date with him?" Amy slid down in her chair, staring at the E-mail with barely any feeling.

"WHAT? Why would you agree to that, Sonic?!" Tails demanded of his best friend from under the X-Tornado- Tails' favorite plane.

"Because it'd be really nice if I don't even have to worry about Amy for three months." Sonic replied, "And besides, I have the upperhand. There's no way Shadow can get a date and NOT say something that will end up making her run away." Sonic explained.

"But still... I think it's a little extreme to go THAT far with a bet."

"It's not like it'll happen." Sonic smiled confidently, "Shadow doesn't have any..." Sonic's eyes widened, "Oh no..."

"Huh? What is it, Sonic?"

"Does Shadow know Amy's phone number?" Sonic asked.

"I doubt it. They can't stand each other." Tails scoffed, "Why do you..." Tails realized what Sonic feared, then he waved it off saying, "Pfft, Amy would never go on a date with Shadow. That's just too weird."

"Yeah, we know that. But do we know what Amy would do if it meant... That..."

"Uh..." Tails sighed, "I think you've made the worst possible mistake, EVER."

"Wait... Amy might've just ignored his text, or not receive his phone call." Sonic replied, getting some form of hope.

"That's true." Tails nodded, "Well... I guess you shouldn't get your hopes up."

"Not until the end of this week." Sonic groaned, "I'll be happy once this whole thing is over and I win."

"Yep." Tails nodded, "Now, could you pass me the monkey-wrench, Sonic? Uh... Sonic?" He received no comment or monkey-wrench. Tails came out from under his plane to see that the blue hedgehog had left. Tails huffed, "Why does he have to do that?"

Meanwhile, on the Eggfleet, Dr. Eggman was nearly finished with his creation. Only a few minor touches before he would be completed. Dr. Eggman did not see Rouge walk up to the computer and touch a small circle on the keyboard. She reacted to a sudden prick to her finger, barely drawing blood. All of a sudden, the computer when wrong. Dr. Eggman shouted, "WHAT?!" He turned to look at Rouge, who was busy trying to keep her finger from bleeding. "Rouge! Do you know what you've just done?!"

"Yeah, I pricked my finger on something sharp. Seriously, your robots need to do a better job of cleaning up." Rouge criticized.

"You completely wrecked my creation!"

"Which is what?"

"Uh... Wha-what's going on?" A soft voice asked.

Dr. Eggman moved over to the computer, beside himself with anger. "No. Nonononono! This isn't supposed to happen!"

Rouge stood up and finally asked, "What's going on?"

Dr. Eggman glared at Rouge, a glare that Shadow seemed to be the only one who could muster: one that make your blood run cold and you involuntarily shudder from.

From inside the pod, a confused and slightly scared hedgehog girl stood, not knowing what her fate may end up becoming.


	4. Chapter 4

"Darkness and shouting. So much of it. What kind of place was I brought to? And... What place was I from?" The girl in the pod asked herself. "What am I here for?"

The girl turned around and saw a sliver of light from between a few cracks in the wall. She began to feel around at the crack and attempted to escape in any way possible. Finally, she was able to get a hole large enough for her to fit through. stepping out, she could hear the yelling even louder than before. A boy's outfit was laid out on a desk, looking at it, the girl felt disdain to wear it. A little ways away, however, a robot walked up with a basket of laundry. It didn't seem to see her. It just dropped the basket in a corner and then left. The girl, not entirely sure if she should, walked over to the basket and picked out a plain navy blue T-shirt and a pair of slacks that didn't seem too masculine for her. She picked out a set of shoes that seemed out of place in the basket, obviously because shoes really shouldn't be with laundry. She glanced into a nearby mirror and frowned, she wasn't fond of how she looked, but, she looked at the basket again, she didn't have too many options.

"GET OUT OF HERE!" One of the voices practically screamed. The girl jumped from surprise. A white bat leaped away and flew into the room, avoiding blasts of yellow light.

"Sheesh, how rude." The bat observed, before turning to see the hedgehog girl. "Oh... dear..." Rouge stifled a laugh, "We need to do something about this."

"Tell me about it." The girl sighed, "But I didn't really have a lot to work with." She pointed to the laundry basket to the side.

"I see your point." The white bat remarked, "By the way, I'm Rouge the bat, but just call me Rouge."

The white and blue hedgehog nodded, "Nice to meet you... I'd tell you my name but..."

"You can't remember?" Rouge asked, "Well, maybe we can fix that. Come on." Rouge motioned the hedgehog girl to follow her. Once out of the room, Rouge continued, "Now, do you have anything you'd like to go by, just so that we have a name to introduce you as."

"Uh..." The white hedgehog thought about that for a moment, "Hope."

"Hope? That's pretty, and it kinda fits your situation right now." Rouge commented. "Alright, Hope. First things first: Let's get you a new wardrobe."

Hope nodded, "Yes. That would be great."

Shadow waited on his computer for Amy's reply. He waited a half hour before getting it. He opened it immediately and his mood dropped with its contents.

Shadow,  
I'm not sure what caused this bet, but I'm glad it did. But... No one's really willing to go on any blind dates, Rouge is probably our last hope, but it isn't likely that she'll go along with it, considering that it won't benefit her any. I'm sorry, I'm doing the best I can. Honestly, but... I'm not sure what we can do about this.  
Amy

Shadow laid back in his chair in thought. He bit his lower lip. Dang that Sonic, he knew he was going to have an upper hand in this bet. Shadow crossed his arms. There wasn't much else to do, unless a miracle was going to happen. And that miracle would have to happen quickly, he only has a week to win the bet.

After further thought, Shadow realized that the only thing that this bet was about was to prove a point to Sonic. The only thing worth winning would be to see Sonic's torment about announcing his final engagement decision. Shadow wasn't really betting anything except the possibility of a love life, which he wasn't looking for anyway. No, he would just sit back and relax... Never expecting what was going to happen.

Sonic was panicking. Shadow had every reason to get him to marry Amy. Shadow would just LOVE to see him squirm the rest of his life. Sonic flopped onto his bed and groaned. Shadow and Amy would team up against him and would win. Sonic eventually sat up and looked up at the Eggfleet. Maybe Dr. Eggman would finally get his wish. If he died, then the bet couldn't be completed. And thus, Shadow wouldn't get his satisfaction. Sonic, not realizing how stupid he sounded, got up and left his apartment. Headed straight for the Eggfleet.

Rouge brought Hope to her penthouse before they went shopping. Hope, she knew, could not look like a lesbian while they went shopping, that would just be bad. Rouge grabbed her G.U.N. uniform, it was slightly too tall for her- plus Rouge absolutely despised the camouflage on her- but might fit Hope. While Hope changed Rouge's phone rang. It was Amy. Rouge frowned slightly, and picked up the phone, before Rouge could greet Amy, "Rouge. Can I ask you a huge, ginormous favor?"

"That would depend on what it is." Rouge answered.

"See... Sonic and Shadow made a bet that if Shadow couldn't get a date then Sonic would marry me. But, the thing is... Shadow's... well..."

"A beast. I know." Rouge sighed, "So, you're asking me to go on a date with Shadow, is that it?"

"More or less, yeah." Amy sighed, "Look, if it isn't too much to ask for..."

"Sadly, for me, yes. But I have a friend here who doesn't know Shadow. I may be able to convince her to..."

"OHthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou, Rouge! You have no idea what that would mean to me."

"And possibly Shadow." Rouge laughed, "I'll call you if she's in, alright?"

"Please do!"

"Okay, Amy. See you later."

"See you."

Rouge hung up and turned around to see Hope in the doorway. "Who was that?"

"Amy Rose." Rouge replied quickly, "She said that she knows someone who made a bet with her boyfriend and it involves her and so on. She was just asking me if I could help her with it."

"And, can you?"

"Nope." Rouge smiled at Hope, "But you sure could."

"Uh... M-me?" Hope asked, "What do you mean by that?"

"Simple. Amy's boyfriend's friend, per se, had betted that he could get a date before the end of the week."

"And if he did?"

Rouge shrugged and lied, "Amy said that it involved her, so I'm not sure."

"I heard you mentioned a beast, what did that..?"

"Oh, don't worry about that. Amy was just talking about one of the kids she... babysits." Rouge lied, "He's always doing stuff that he really shouldn't be doing."

"I-I see..." Hope nodded, not quite convinced, but accepting it at that moment.

"At any rate, you look very nice in that." Rouge said, noting that it looked much better on her newcomer than on herself.

"Thanks. But I'd rather not wear this everyday. That'd just be..."

"Weird." Rouge smiled

"And gross..." Hope nodded, smiling. "I'm ready to go when you are."

"Great. Then we can go now." Rouge smiled and she opened the door and left with Hope tailing behind her.

How could his marvelous plan go wrong in half a second? Dr. Eggman asked himself. How? Everything went so swimmingly until little miss batty came around and ruined the whole thing! Dr. Eggman paced back and forth in his study, figuring out what he could possibly do to fix it. The mad doctor took months to collect everything that he needed, who knows how much longer it'll take to get more? Dr. Eggman growled, he needed something to vent his anger onto. The alarms sounded. Great. Just another thing to worry about. Dr. Eggman growled and came out of his study and went to the bridge. Sonic was waiting there, surprisingly in a solemn mood. Dr. Eggman scowled, "Well? What do you want?"

"Just hear me out. I made the mistake in making a bet with Shadow and..."

"You really think I'd do a favor for you, Sonic? Not likely."

"Come on, Eggy. I'd do -almost- anything to get out of this bet!"

"Why are you so sure you'd lose?" Dr. Eggman asked.

"Because Shadow and Amy are teaming up together to get me to lose."

"That's it?" Dr. Eggman asked, "What were the conditions?"

"THAT is exactly the problem..." Sonic exclaimed, "Shadow had set the conditions."

"Shadow wants you to suffer." Dr. Eggman grinned, "Well, in that case I'm joining in on Shadow's side."

Sonic groaned, "Come on, Doc! I'll run any and every errand; menial or not. Just PLEASE make sure that they can't win this bet."

Dr. Eggman considered the options. Help Shadow, and Sonic suffers. It may be only a little time. Or, have Sonic be a willing errand slave. Dr. Eggman voiced his opinion, "Nope. You're going to have to do better than that."

"Then what?!"

"There's a girl who's important to my work. If you get her to me by sunset, then we have a deal."

"Well, then, who is it?" Sonic asked then crossed his arms and looked up at Dr. Eggman suspiciously, "Waaaait, you want me to kidnap someone, is that it?"

"I don't care how you get her here, as long as she does."

"Alright then, who?"

"She calls herself Hope." Dr. Eggman recalled from his security tape, "I'm not sure where she is, however."

"That shouldn't be too hard to do. Hope isn't exactly a common name. Any idea what she looks like?"

"She's a white hedgehog with pale blue markings."

"Okay. She shouldn't be too hard to find." Sonic noted, "I'll be back before sunset."

"Good." The mad doctor said, looking at a nearby clock. "Sonic has two hours to get her here. It won't happen." he chuckled to himself.

Amy got a text from Rouge that explained that Rouge's friend accepted, and she even sent a picture of the friend to Amy. "A white and blue hedgehog, huh?" Amy thought, "She looks like Shadow's opposite."

The pink hedgehog raced to her computer to type up her message to Shadow, telling him the good news. Her heart pounded in her chest. This is what she's wanted since she had met Sonic, and she could do anything but wait for Shadow to hear about it, and she waited impatiently for his reply, which she thought would be near-instantaneous. After a couple of minutes, of which seemed like hours to the pink hedgehog, Shadow wrote back to her saying:

Great.

"Great?!" Amy asked herself, "That's all you can say about it?!" She frowned at the E-mail for a second before she received a text from Rouge. Amy opened it immediately and read it, then scrolled down to see an image of a white and light blue hedgehog wearing a simple white T-shirt and blue jeans. "Wow, Rouge. Could you get a more anti-Shadow girl?.. Then again, it will ONLY be a date in order for me to have my dream husband. I just hope this'll work..." Amy forwarded the text to Shadow.

But it wasn't Shadow who received the text. It was Sonic.


	5. Chapter 5

Sonic's phone jingled, declaring that he had just gotten a text. "Amy again." Sonic grumbled, but fearing another episode with her, he looked at the text. And he could not believe his eyes. Not only did the text say who was being hooked up with Shadow: It showed a picture of who it was; the girl he was looking for. He stopped and stared at the text, confused yet very happy about it. He ran towards the Acorn Kingdom, as the text told him specifically where she was.

Hope and Rouge finished their shopping and brought the boys' clothes over to a store that took clothing donations. Sonic running parallel to them, he on his way to Rouge's penthouse. Sonic, after realizing that the girl he needed was behind him, he stopped and turned around, looking over at the two girls, specifically the hedgehog. He waited for them to walk up before he greeted them. Sonic seemed to pay more attention to Hope, which Rouge noted. Rouge and Sonic chatted a little bit, he avoiding introducing himself. Hope understood a couple of things, and yet often felt lost in their conversation. Sonic asked, "Where are you headed off to?"

Rouge shrugged, "Just back to my apartment."

"Oh. Well, Hope, do you mind if I talk to you for a second?"

Hope shrugged, "Uh... Okay..."

Rouge smiled slightly to herself, "Sonic, you're such a player." The white bat turned and flew back home, not suspecting Sonic's true motives.

Hope walked a little while with Sonic before she asked, "What did you want to talk to me about?"

"Just, stuff, I guess." Sonic shrugged. "Actually, a little bird told me that you're going on a blind date sometime this week."

"Oh... Uh... Yes... That's right." Hope agreed.

"I was just wondering if you would like to see him for yourself before then." Sonic shrugged.

"I-I wouldn't mind that..." Hope admitted, "But who told you about it?"

Sonic smiled, "I know things, that's all."

"You must have heard it somewhere." Hope reasoned, not realising that she was talking to the other party of the bet.

Sonic shrugged, "Word gets around. Not to mention that Rouge isn't one to ignore good gossip."

Hope nodded, accepting the last reply as her answer. "Is the guy far from here?"

"Don't you know his name?"

"Well..." Hope trailed off, "No... I really don't..."

"Oh, well, the guy's name is Shadow. And believe me, his name fits."

"Why do you say that?"

"He's a bit, well, I shouldn't lie. He's a jerk, a big one at that. His whole past is a mystery to everyone; and he can't seem to get over... Whatever it was."

"Really? I've heard nothing but good things about him from Rouge." Hope reasoned.

Sonic sighed and thought, "Another person against me." aloud, "Well, obviously Rouge wouldn't want you to give Shadow a second thought before you actually meet him. I'm just giving you a warning."

"Well, thanks for the warning, um... I'm sorry, I don't know your name."

"Eeh, don't worry about that." Sonic looked up in the sky, the sun fading behind the mountains too quickly for him, "Anyway, we're almost there."

Hope looked up as well, "Wait a second... I've been here before..."

Fearing that Hope might realize what's actually going on, Sonic picked her up and found his way up into the Eggfleet. Hope now confused and slightly scared of what may end up happening.

Shadow strode through the halls of the largest ship of the Eggfleet, looking for the teleporter that leads up to ARK. Sonic sped past him, barely shouting a 'Hi' before he disappeared completely from view. Shadow, curious, decided to follow the blue hedgehog. Expecting a fight at any time.

Hope was confused, "Why did I remember the flying boats? And why did the blue hedgehog grab me without warning? What's going on?" Sonic eventually stopped and placed Hope on the ground. Her sapphire blue eyes looking up at him in confusion. Footsteps walked in from above, and she looked up to see a human in a red costume, his bright orange moustache seemed to dominate his face. His moustache seemed to part as the man grinned evilly, causing Hope to suddenly realize that, whoever this blue hedgehog was, he wasn't friendly. Hope frowned at Sonic, she standing up, still very confused, but something told her that she shouldn't be there.

"Well, Done Sonic. Very good, I almost believed that you wouldn't follow through in time."

"I've done my part, now you do yours, doc." Sonic replied.

Hope looked around, robots had just entered the room. Each one running closer to the pair. Hope's blood ran cold and blazed in the same instant. "Um... why am I here?" Hope demanded, gaining courage that seemed hidden to everyone else.

"That, my dear, you will learn soon. but not now." the mad doctor replied, answering for Sonic. "As for you, Sonic. I won't forget our deal, so you can go home."

Sonic nodded and walked away. Hope stood and faced the blue hedgehog and wanted to shout every profanity she knew at the hedgehog, except she didn't know any profanities, so it didn't help her any. Two robots came through a door that closed behind them. These two robots came up to Hope and grabbed her, forcing her hands behind her back. She was forced to turn and face her captor, she glaring up at him with a piercing stare.

Unfazed by the hedgehog beneath him, the mad doctor grinned even wider, "Now then, Hope, shall we get to business?"

"No. I'm leaving." Hope announced, "I don't want to be here any longer than I have to be."

"Sorry, missy. You don't have a choice." The doctor nodded to the robots, and they cuffed Hope, not seeming to notice that they were far too tight for her wrists, she stifled a cry of pain, not allowing her captor to see the satisfaction of hurting her. "Take her away."

The robots picked up Hope, she struggled against the robots, but they still managed to get her out of the bridge.

Shadow saw Sonic leave the Eggfleet in a hurry, but something out of the corner of his eye caught his attention, and he looked to see a white and blue hedgehog being carried away by two of Eggman's robots. Shadow looked back at where Sonic had just left, the black hedgehog doubted that Sonic had any idea what was happening. Shadow looked back at the struggling hedgehog and hid behind a wall, sticking his foot out. The first robot tripped over Shadow's foot and fell to the ground, releasing the girl. She jumped to the side, right into Shadow, who caught her before she fell on top of him. She looked at him, to see if her betrayer had tried to make right. Seeing it was someone else, her anger seemed to fade. The second robot, seeing that Hope was out of its grasp, raced at her; only to tumble on top of its comrade. Shadow scoffed at the two robots before stomping on them, his foot making a dent deep enough into the robot that it ruined both of them. Hope couldn't seem to find her voice. The black hedgehog found a key from the robots and uncuffed her. She wrung her wrists, they had marks in them where the metal chaffed her skin. Hope smiled at the black hedgehog, "Uh. Thanks."

Shadow nodded, then said, "Make sure you stay out of trouble, next time."

"Uh... Right..." Hope watched the hedgehog leave, her face was red. "Who was he?" She asked herself. "I didn't get his name... Shoot."

Shadow left the Eggfleet and quickly found the blue hedgehog running off just beyond the airships. Shadow turned his air skates on and leaped off the Eggcarrier and fell to the ground, his skates preventing him from hitting the ground and dying. Shadow caught up to Sonic, confused if not suspicious. "Sonic." Shadow said, telling Sonic that he was there.

Sonic stopped abruptly, he seeming somewhat nervous, "Oh, Shadow. Is there something up?"

"Is something bothering you?" Shadow asked, feigning sincerity, then smiling triumphantly, "Or are you worried that I've already got a date?"

"Er..." Sonic racked his brain for a way to talk himself out of that question. Shadow helped him,

"Or is there something that you didn't do up on the Eggfleet just now?" Shadow's gaze hardened, "You're the hero of Mobias, and yet you ran off when a hedgehog, was taken away by two robots!"

Sonic's face turned completely red, "I-I didn't know anything about that." He lied, turning back, "I gotta help her."

"If they aren't dead already." Shadow reminded his rival of what the mad doctor was known for: transforming creatures into machines and taking away their ability to do anything on their own account.

Sonic started to bolt back to the Eggfleet, now realizing just what he did. Shadow grabbed Sonic and kept him from going. Sonic glared at Shadow, "What are you doing? I gotta help her!"

"How do you know it was a girl?" Shadow asked, glaring at the blue hedgehog with his infamous fiery glare, "I didn't say anything that would make you assume that the hedgehog was a girl." Shadow's jaw clenched, "You know something, don't you?"

"What makes you think I do? And besides, now that I know she's in trouble, I can help her."

Shadow finally loosened his grasp on Sonic, who then raced back to the Eggfleet.

Hope wandered the halls of the Eggfleet, not entirely sure of which direction the black hedgehog took. Footsteps came near her from all sides and she groaned inwardly when she saw that they were robots and the fat man, whom Sonic called 'Doc'. Doc stood in front of all of the robots, glaring down at her with his eyes and smiling with his mouth. The contradiction of his facial features caused a shiver to go up Hope's back.

"Hello there, Hope." Doc grinned evilly.

"Who are you?" Hope asked, her suspicions rising, "And why did that blue hedgehog bring me here?"

"I am Dr. Robotnick; although the world insists on calling me Dr. Eggman. As for your other question, the answer will come in time."

"In time...? In time for what?" Hope asked, flustered.

Dr. Eggman seemed to enjoy Hope's discomfort, which did not make her like him any more than she already did. Dr. Eggman simply turned away and motioned for both her and the robots to follow him. Hope did not wish to, but was pushed from behind by the robots.

Dr. Eggman led his army and Hope to his study. After some analysis on some shed quills that Hope had left behind, Dr. Eggman knew exactly how much damage Rouge did- which was barely any. All that changed was what Hope looked like- and her gender. Her strength, agility, and loyalty were not affected. Now, all Dr. Eggman hoped was that Hope's allegiance was not towards G.U.N. or the Freedom Fighters.

Once inside the study, half of the robots left for their original chores, and the other half came into the room, in case Hope did know her strength and wanted to get out. Dr. Eggman motioned for Hope to sit down, she walked over to the chair, but stood next to it; she did not trust nor like her captor. The mad doctor sat down in his own chair and leaned back, asking, "Do you know who you are, Hope?"

Hope scowled at the man, and through clenched teeth she answered, "No."

Dr. Eggman nodded then replied, "But I do."

Hope glared at the doctor and demanded, "Then prove it. Who am I?"

Dr. Eggman grinned, "Now, now, Hope. It won't be that easy. See, I need the seven Chaos Emeralds for something. If you collect three of these emeralds, I'll be willing to tell you who you are."

"What about the other four?"

"I already have those." Dr. Eggman replied bluntly.

Hope frowned and considered the options. Finally she turned the offer down, "No. I'm sure I can figure out who I am without your help."

"Ah, you misunderstand, Hope. Only I can tell you who you are, no one else knows."

Hope sized up the fat doctor, narrowing her eyes in an attempt to detect any sort of lie, she finally sighed, "If that is true, then... Very well... I will find those emeralds."

Dr. Eggman promptly stood up, as if it was a brief victory dance, "Good! You will start in the morning!" Dr. Eggman snapped his fingers and two robots stepped forward. He ordered, "You two, show Hope to her room."

Hope gave him a questioning glance before turning away and following the robots he singled out. Although there was a minor delay in his scheme; it will go according to plan. Soon, very soon. Dr. Eggman will be the ruler of the Eggman Empire; The whole world.

Sonic stopped at the seashore of Capital City, watching the Eggfleet move into the distance. Sonic scratched his head and wondered how he was going to explain his situation to Tails.


	6. Chapter 6

Rouge paced around in her apartment the next morning, curious- if not worried- about Hope. Surely she remembered where the penthouse was, it's not like her apartment was in an out-of-the-way place. By nine o'clock, the bat finally decided to go looking for her friend.

It wasn't far to Tails' garage- where he usually spent his mornings when there wasn't a crisis. Rouge reasoned with herself that Hope might have gone there. The white bat landed right outside the garage, finding the yellow fox right outside, tinkering with his favorite plane: The X-Tornado. "Hey, kid." Rouge greeted the young fox, who then looked up.

"Oh, Hi, Rouge." Tails greeted, "What brings you here?"

"Nothing much. Have you seen a white hedgehog recently?"

"A white hedgehog?" Tails repeated, then shook his head, "No, I haven't. Why?"

Rouge sighed and crossed her arms impatiently, "I'm sure you heard about Sonic's bet."

Tails nodded, "Yeah. I heard."

"Well, Hope- the white hedgehog- is supposed to be Shadow's blind date. Only problem is, Sonic went to talk to her yesterday and I haven't seen her since."

"Oh..." Tails looked at his plane as if to ask it for advice, "Well, ah... Does Sonic know about her?"

Rouge shook her head, "No, he couldn't have known."

Sonic ran up just then, grinning in his usual way. "Hi, Tails!"

"Hiya, Sonic." Tails smiled back at his best friend.

Skipping the greeting Rouge asked, "Sonic, where's Hope?"

"Huh? Oh, uh..." Sonic's cheery grin quickly changed into a nervous smile, "You see... I... Don't... Know..." He lied.

"You don't know? Why's that?" Rouge demanded rather than asked.

Sonic took a defensive step back, "She... Uh... R-ran off last night while I was still talking to her." The blue hedgehog shrugged, "I seriously don't know where she is."

"Why didn't you come here sooner?" Tails asked with a concerned look.

Sonic didn't know how to answer that, he scratched the back of his neck nervously, "Well, I'm here now... So, let's go look for her!"

Tails nodded, "Right." to Rouge, "Do you want to join us?"

Rouge shook her head, "No, I'll stick around, she may eventually find her way back to my penthouse." She waved a 'goodbye' before lifting off.

Tails quickly finished his tinkering before hopping into the X-Tornado; Sonic jumped onto its wing. Engines roaring, the X-Tornado lifted off of the runway and flew off towards the plains right outside of the Acorn Kingdom. Sonic bit his lip, his mind half focused on finding Hope, and the other half wanted to keep her away.

Hope woke up slowly, and she slowly sat up in the bed. Her bare feet met cold metal and she reacted as if the floor was made of hot charcoal. Now wide awake, Hope took a couple of seconds to recall the previous day; her agreement with Dr. Robotnik/Eggman being the first on her memory.

Hope threw on an outfit that was laid down on a desk next to her bed. She sighed heavily, and she regretted being there. Finishing her morning routine, she was summoned to the bridge- where Sonic had originally brought her to the Eggfleet. She stood among at least three hundred robots that were awaiting orders. Dr. Eggman waited at the upper level of the bridge for Hope to finally get there. The robots immediately moved around her in a circle, surrounding her on all sides. Confused, the hedgehog girl looked up at Dr. Robotnik, who seemed like he knew what he was doing- if only she knew as well. Dr. Robotnik asked her, "Hope, before you go on your little mission to find the three missing emeralds, I must ask you, do you know your strength?"

Hope frowned not amused, "I don't know anything about myself or about who I am. You tell me."

Dr. Eggman grinned and motioned to the robots, which then moved as if to attack, "Perhaps you should find out."

Hope dropped her jaw in disbelief, "Are you crazy?!" Looking about at the numerous robots around her. She glanced back up at the bridge, but saw no one there. She huffed out an 'of course' and waited for the approaching army to face her.

As if on instinct, she reacted to grab the closest robot to her and flung it around and around, knocking back other robots nearby; thus also destroying the one she had on hand. The robots didn't pause, they had their orders to attack without question. Hope dropped the smashed robot and looked at her hands, knowing but not knowing. Confidence growing, she embraced the fray: bashing, kicking, punching and KO'ing robots left and right. Hope payed no attention to how many robots she destroyed; her only focus was to destroy whatever came into her path. The robots soon retreated, and Hope stood in the midst of all the rubble, panting. Clapping from above caused Hope to look towards the noise. Dr. Robotnik had his usual sinister grin and he asked, "Well, Hope. Do you now have an idea on how much power I gave you?"

Hope narrowed her eyes and gave a questioning look to the mad doctor, "You 'gave me'? What did you mean by that?"

"I'll tell you once I have the three chaos emeralds in my hand." Dr. Robotnik grinned, holding out his obviously empty hand.

Hope sighed in frustration, "Then answer me this; why did you send me up against those robots?"

"Well, just so that it's of no surprise to you if you have to fight for an emerald." Dr. Eggman replied.

Hope was about to ask further about the subject when alarms blared. Dr. Robotnik looked at a monitor with a questioning look, as if he didn't quite comprehend what he was seeing. Dr. Robotnik grinned, "Well, Hope. It seems as if one of those emeralds is nearby. Go now! Get it to me!"

Hope scoffed as she left, "Bossy much?" She then followed her robot guides to the Chaos Emerald.

Sonic and Tails found themselves a fight on the decks of the Eggfleet. Tails was still curious on what they were doing on the Eggfleet in the first place. Sonic seemed to know more than what he was saying, but Tails didn't understand why his best friend would want to hide information from him. Tails bashed away a couple of robots before looking up and seeing a white and blue hedgehog standing next to two robots in the crowd. "Sonic!" The yellow fox shouted, "I think I found Hope!"

"What? Where?"

"Over here! She's at the back!"

Sonic looked to where Tails instructed and, sure enough, Hope stood there. She seemed to be fixed on the X-Tornado, and she walked through the waves of robots without any issues. "What is going on?" Sonic asked himself, watching the white hedgehog- and completely forgetting about his fight. Sonic fell down beneath two robots that pinned him to the metal floor. All he could understand was what he heard; mostly robots and two people shouting.

Hope moved toward the plane, knowing that the glowing nozzle contained a Chaos Emerald. A yellow fox moved towards her, shouting, "Hey! Get into the plane! Sonic and I are going to get you home!"

Hope sighed and replied sadly, "I'm sorry. But I have no choice." Without another word she ripped off the nozzle of the plane and took the emerald. Hope bolted in case Tails recovered from the shock quickly. She stopped briefly only to hear Tails' anguished voice asking a question the poor guy could never understand: "Wha..? Why?"

Why indeed? Hope questioned this herself as she stared at the large gem in her hand. Why was this stone so important? All it seemed to do was glow. What was its significance? Hope tossed the glowing jewel in the air and, instead of it falling back into her hand, it levitated in the air. Circling about her, some strange feeling of strength came into her. Hope muttered, "Odd" and caught hold of the Chaos Emerald, the strength within her intensified if anything. Two silver bands out of thin air popped onto her wrists and two more onto her ankles, the strength didn't subside, but seemed as if it was contained.

"Very good, Hope. I almost thought that you wouldn't for a second there." Dr. Robotnik replied from behind the white hedgehog.

"You were right about the emerald." Hope frowned, "But I must ask, why do you want the emeralds? Surely they're just gems."

"Not at all." The human replied floating past the hedgehog in his machine, "The Chaos Emeralds are the source of power. They contain the ultimate magic. Together, they are nearly unstoppable."

"'Nearly'?"

"The Master Emerald is the largest of all the Chaos Emeralds, and it has the power to neutralize the chaos emeralds' abilities." Dr. Robotnik explained with a hint of distaste. Hope nodded understanding, and the doctor continued. He held his hand out, "The emerald."

Hope looked at the gem in her hand and without a word- or a thought- she gave it to the human, who then pocketed it and sent her on her way to find the other two.

Tails was stunned, biting his lip he went to help his friend from underneath the robots. Tears welled up in the fox's eyes as both he and Sonic looked at the X-Tornado, it's only flaw was the broken nozzle and the empty slot for a Chaos Emerald. The robots left the balcony with a command from Dr. Eggman. Tails flew up to his plane, took a look at the damage, and the sat down. "Who did that?" Sonic asked, flabbergasted.

"Hope... Hope did... I don't know why..." Tails was struggling to stop himself from bawling.

Sonic's gut churned. "I did this." He thought, "I took Hope up here, and now she's gone and hurt Tails." He made a fist, "Now I've got to undo this." Looking at his best friend, Sonic announced, "Well then, we need to get your emerald."

Tails nodded and wiped his eyes with the back of his glove. The yellow fox stood up and faced Sonic, a new light of determination in his eyes, a single nod was the only thing necessary for Sonic to grab his friend's wrist and bolt.

Dr. Eggman watched Hope leave the Eggfleet and run off in the direction he had pinpointed as a location of the sixth emerald. Things seemed to go swimmingly, and yet he felt like he was forgetting something. A loathsome and familiar voice from behind reminded him of what he forgot- Sonic and Tails.

"EGGMAN! Where's Hope?!" Sonic shouted.

The mad doctor turned slowly around to face his nemesis, who was in no mood for games; which was a rare occasion. Dr. Eggman folded his arms and replied, "Did you remember our little agreement?"

Sonic's mood seemed to darken, he growled, "Yes. I still remember."

Dr. Eggman shrugged, "She isn't your concern."

"No, but Tails is. Hope stole his emerald!"

Dr. Eggman shrugged, "I don't think she was trying to hurt Tails. You, on the other hand..."

"What...? What do you mean?" Sonic's demeanor changed from hate to confusion.

"Simple. You brought her here, to the enemy of Mobias." The engineer grinned with his usual sinister fashion, "Hope may have thought that you were pretending to be my foe." Sonic looked uncomfortable. Dr. Eggman's grin widened, oh how he enjoyed every moment of this. "Not only that. Hope believes that to be a fact. She doesn't trust you."

Sonic frowned, if only Dr. Eggman wasn't right. Hope must absolutely despise him. He sighed, "Is there any way I can undo that?"

Dr. Eggman snorted and turned his back to the hedgehog, "As if I'd tell you."

Sonic glared at the human and left. Tails looked at his friend curiously, he out of earshot of the entire conversation, "Did Eggman tell you anything?"

Sonic shook his head, "Nope. We'll have to find her ourselves."

Tails nodded and followed the blue hedgehog, barely suspecting that Sonic was hiding a thing.

Shadow lounged on his sofa when his phone rang. Somehow Amy had gotten his number, and he held the phone and greeted, "What?"

"Shadow, have you made a time yet?"

"Time? What for?" Shadow asked, attempting to recall anything from the previous days.

"Don't tell me you forgot, Shadow. You know, the bet. I told you in my text that I got someone who'd go on a date with you. It had a picture of her and everything."

"I didn't get any text like that." Shadow replied.

"What? I was sure I sent it." Amy muttered. After a moment she gasped, "Oh no..."

Curiosity got the better of Shadow, "What is it?"

"I sent the text to Sonic."


	7. Chapter 7

Hope picked up the red emerald and looked into the depths of its glittering surface. Something moved inside of it. Hope looked closer, she could see a hedgehog moving through it; however, she couldn't see where he was going, or for what reason. The image left Hope curious, who was that anyway? Still puzzling the question she walked back the way she came, bumping into Rouge on the way. The white bat shouted at her, "Hope! Where have you been?"

"Eggfleet." was Hope's reply. She paused for a moment then asked, "Are Sonic and Dr. Robotnik... friends?"

Rouge scoffed, "Oh goodness, no! Sonic has been kicking... Wait... Dr. _Robotnik_?"

"Yes." Hope nodded, "Sonic took me up to the Eggfleet and talked to Dr. Robotnik about some deal."

Rouge shook her head, "Sonic and Dr. Eggman hate each other. There's no reason why they'd make a deal."

"But that's..."

"Hope, I'm sure it's just a big misunderstanding." Rouge laughed.

Hope nodded, nowhere near convinced. In fact, to her, it seemed like Rouge refused to believe that Sonic could be a villain. Hope shrugged, pretending to believe her friend, "At any rate, I need to find the last Chaos Emerald."

"'Last'?"

"Yes. See..." Hope sighed, "Dr. Robotnik offered me that if I got him some chaos emeralds that he'd tell me about who I am."

"And you fell for it?" Rouge asked, "Hope. Dr. Eggman lied to you. He just wants the emeralds for some scheme."

"Probably, but I don't have much choice." Hope explained, "Yes, it's true, there is a small chance that he'll tell me about me, but there is still a chance."

Rouge shook her head, "Hope. The Chaos Emeralds are THE most powerful things on Mobias. If Dr. Eggman gets his hands on them, who knows what will happen?"

"I also said, 'some'. I'm not getting him all of them. Only two. And I already have one. I just need another."

"I'm telling you that this is a bad idea." Rouge then smiled profusely, "Besides, you and Shadow have a date tonight."

"Who and what?" Hope asked.

"Your blind date, remember." Rouge winked, "It's tonight. At the park and..." She checked her phone, "it'll be aaaaaat... Seven-thirty." Rouge grabbed Hope and guided her back to the Acorn Kingdom, "It's almost one now, so we don't have much time!"

"It's in six-and-a-half hours, Rouge."

"I know. We don't have any time to waste!"

Shadow paced the floor of his room, thinking of possible conversation starters that wouldn't chase someone off. From the picture that Amy had texted him, it didn't seem promising. He sighed and looked up at his weapons on the wall. It had every kind of gun from a two-barrelled pistol to a sniper rifle. His phone alerted him of a text from Amy, telling him that time and place was a 'go'. Shadow stared at the wall in front of him, and begged, "Help."

Dr. Eggman chuckled to himself, watching Sonic and Tails run around in the corridors looking for a hedgehog who wasn't there. They had soon stopped looking on the fleet and went up to ARK. A shadow entered the room, declaring the sunset, and the mad doctor leaned back in his chair, curious of how Hope was doing on her little quest.

Hope was still taking in all the information from Rouge about Dr. Robotnik while Rouge fussed about her appearance; Hope was sure she looked like a fool. Her dress, pretty as it was, made her feel a little uncomfortable, if not scandalous. Makeup seemed like a foreign and dumb idea, but Rouge paid absolutely no attention to her. Rouge finally felt like she was through and smiled, "There. Now you're ready."

Hope looked at herself in a three-way mirror, not sure what to feel. On one side, she was absolutely gorgeous; on the other, she felt like she was pretending to be someone else. Hope smiled at Rouge and asked, "What's the time?"

Rouge glanced at a clock and replied, "Almost seven."

Hope sighed, "I-I don't feel quite comfortable in this."

"Why's that?" Rouge sized Hope up with a curious glance, "You look amazing."

"It isn't that. I... erm... this outfit isn't... 'me'." Hope attempted to explain, "I know this is something you'd wear, Rouge. But..."

Rouge shrugged and looked at the clock once more, "You'd better find something fast then."

Hope nodded and went through the closet and found a simple blue dress with a silver sash. Hope changed dresses, being extremely careful about the makeup.

Rouge's expression wasn't exactly what Hope had expected. "It's so... plain, though."

Hope looked down at the blue and silver, searching for an answer. "Well.. Er... I don't really know anything about myself, so I thought it fitting, simple but elegant."

"Simple, definitely a word I'd use." Rouge muttered, presumably under her breath. She sighed, "Well, we don't have time to argue about this. It's seven-fifteen now. It'll take at least ten minutes to get to the park, so we'd better hurry."

Hope nodded, relieved to have the subject over with.

Shadow paced back and forth in the park, he got there ten minutes early, thinking that he would get time to work on his lines. Telling himself time and time again, "Don't bring up weapons. Don't talk about killing stuff. Talk about normal things." Then he'd get a kick of what he knew was normal, bringing him back down to low confidence of what was going to happen. A figure walked down the path, the white hedgehog in his text. He gulped once and made himself known. "Hello."

The white hedgehog turned to face him, she smiled faintly, "Hello. Are you Shadow?"

The black hedgehog nodded, "You must be Hope."

She nodded, "Yes."

He motioned for her to sit on the nearby bench, he sat down next to her. His whole script gone clean out of his head. They sat in a moment of silence before he heard someone sing:

"Let the stars in the sky remind us of man's compassion  
Let us love 'till we die, and God bless us, everyone."  
Shadow turned to Hope, who was staring up at the sky. She turned to look at him and replied, "Sorry. I looked up just now and remembered a song. Though I don't remember from where."

"Why don't you remember?"

"Well..." Hope looked down at her shoes, "I'm not sure why, really. I don't know anything about myself or anyone else. I... just can't remember."

"... That... may not be a bad thing; to not remember." It was Hope's turn to look at Shadow, who continued, "I doubt that Rouge or Amy told you, but I'm not from here. I'm from ARK. And... There was a time when I couldn't quite remember what had happened there. I thought I did, but I didn't. Once I learned about the truth about my own past; time and time again I lost those memories. I've finally remembered everything that's happened, and now... I wish I didn't."

"Bad things happened, or just hard times?"

"Little of both." Shadow replied.

"Was there any good?"

Shadow nodded, "But through a chain of events... Those good things hurt."

Hope looked up at the stars once more, pondering. After a moment, "They shouldn't hurt."

"Why do you say that?"

"Bad things happen, and you can't change that. But good things happen too. Maybe if you focus more on the good, the bad won't seem as bad."

Shadow shook his head, "If only it was like that."

"Why wouldn't it be?" Hope asked.

"Because the one bad thing changed everything. Nothing good came before it now."

"That's not entirely true. The good things still happened. Focus on the good and don't think about the bad."

"Easier said than done." Shadow huffed.

Hope looked away then stood up. Shadow glanced up at her, and she muttered spitefully, "Sonic."

Sonic had just come back from ARK with Tails, failing miserably in their search. They would come back the next day. That is, until Sonic heard Shadow talking to someone else- a familiar voice. He turned to look- and saw Hope sitting with Shadow. Tails followed his friend's gaze and gasped, "Hope."

The two hedgehogs locked glares. Hope because Sonic had given her to a mad doctor, and he because of Tails' Chaos Emerald. Shadow stood up and looked at Sonic, then at Hope, then back at Sonic. Shadow asked, "You know Sonic?"

Hope growled out her answer, "Yes."

Shadow was more than surprised. She seemed to hate Sonic as much as Eggman does, if not more.

Tails was equally surprised, not by Sonic, but by Hope. Why did she glare at them so? Tails didn't do anything to her. The young fox looked up at Sonic, who was glaring, but he seemed sad too. Why? The young fox watched his friend and Hope meet in the field of the park, and nothing could've prevented the brawl about to take place.

Hope made the first move, a lightning-quick kick that sent Sonic flying at least ten feet. The royal blue hedgehog got up only to deflect another blow from Hope. He shouted, "Hope! I just want to talk!"

"As if! Last time I fell for that, you handed me over to a madman!"

Sonic ignored the stunned looks from both Tails and Shadow, and he shouted back, "That's behind us! Give Tails his Chaos Emerald back!"

Hope rammed right into Sonic, pushing him even farther back, she venting all of her anger out. She didn't say anything. How can anyone say anything when they are beside themselves with anger?

Shadow watched the battle, piecing things together. Amy sent Sonic the text about Hope. Sonic didn't want to lose the bet and so he handed Hope over to Dr. Eggman. But Hope somehow escaped and got back. Now Sonic's trying to wreck the date so that he would have some chance of staying single. Shadow snapped out of his thoughts when things changed on the battlefield.

Hope stood right in front of Tails, who had placed himself between her and Sonic, who was knocked unconscious. Tails breathed heavily, he having to run to Sonic's rescue, "Hope... Stop it... Right now..."

Hope calmed her storm momentarily; however, was unable to contain a smart remark, "I have."

"The Chaos Emerald... I need it to power my plane... Where is it?"

"I don't have it." Hope replied, "It's still on the Eggfleet."

Tails' eyes widened, "What?"

Hope turned away, unable to look at the yellow fox, "Dr. Rrr... Eggman... lied to me. He told me if I gave him the emerald he'd let me go home. Except he wanted all the emeralds. He sent me off to find them, but instead I came here."

Tails' ears drooped, "So... Eggman has my emerald."

Hope nodded slowly. "Yes." She took one last look at the fox before reaching for the red emerald, "However... I did find this." Tails looked up at the white hedgehog and saw the Chaos Emerald. Hope pushed it to Tails, "I'm sorry for what I did." She glanced at Sonic harshly, "But not for what I did to him." Hope walked away from the scene.

Shadow waited for Hope to come back before saying, "So that's what happened."

"Hmm?" Hope asked.

"It was a little surprising to see you so upset, until you shouted at Sonic."

"Oh... That." Hope huffed, "I'd rather not go into that. Besides," Hope cheered up enough to smile, "we have a date, right?"

Shadow nodded, "Right." He turned back towards the bench that they were previously sitting on, and away from the two figures behind him. One being lifted by Chaos Energy and hurried off to a nearby hospital.

~ One week later ~

Sonic woke up in a hospital room with a start. He couldn't remember his dream, but it was horrible. Tails sat right next to his bed, he surprised and concerned, "Sonic! Are you OK?"

Sonic turned to face his friend, realizing that whatever horror he dreamt of wasn't there, he relaxed and nodded, "Yeah... Just a bad dream..." Sonic looked around the room, "Where am I?"

"The hospital. Hope... We've been really worried about you."

Sonic frowned at the name, "I can't stand that woman."

Tails' ears drooped, "I was afraid you would say that..." He produced the red Chaos Emerald, "See, Once H..." Tails stopped breifly when Sonic glared at him, "_she_ thought she had done enough, she gave me this in compensation from the other emerald." Sonic looked at the emerald, not quite convinced. Tails smiled, "She isn't so bad, Sonic. She's actually..." Tails stopped mid-sentence, Sonic had rolled over in bed, as if to ignore whatever Tails had to say. Quietly he continued, "... the only person Shadow's been able to get along with." Tails rubbed his arm, feeling uncomfortable, if not sad, about his best friend.

Sonic sighed and laid back down on the pillow, seeking for a change of subject, "How much longer will I be here for?"

Tails' ears drooped a little and he fidgeted nervously and replied, "Three months... at earliest."

"What?!"


	8. Chapter 8

Hope paced in her new apartment and wondered how Sonic was doing. Surely she didn't hurt him too badly, after all, guys are supposed to be tougher than girls. Hope paused on the thought. Supposed to be. Once more, Hope remembered that she knew almost nothing about herself. Perhaps she was stronger than she gave herself credit for. Looking back, her memories started from when she was in the pod-like machine, but wouldn't that mean..? "No." Hope thought, shaking her head, "That's ridiculous. Dr. Eggman makes robots, not creatures." But still, the thought was there. A knock on the door snapped her out of her thoughts. Through the peephole, Hope could see Amy standing on the other side of the door. Amy rushed in, her face beaming with happiness and eagerly told Hope the news:

"Sonic's up! He's finally up!" Amy announced, unaware of Hope's spite for the pink hedgehog's boyfriend.

Hope, feigning joy, shouted, "What? That's... Great, Amy!"

"I know, isn't it? And the best part is- Shadow won the bet!" Amy was practically dancing.

"About that... What were the conditions of the bet, anyway?" Hope asked, "All Rouge told me was that you were involved in it somehow."

Amy settled down barely to answer Hope, "Basically, since Shadow won the bet, Sonic has to marry me! Which means that Sonic DOES love me!" Amy was now jumping up and down with all the squees. Hope seemed even more confused with Amy's logic, but didn't say anything; knowing that it would not only pop Amy's bubble, but it might pop her self-esteem too. Hope just smiled and mimicked Amy's approach- by jumping up and down with all her squees.

Hope settled down first and she waited for Amy to as well before announcing, "Well, I have my own good news."

"Oh? What is it?" Amy asked, temporarily distracted from her previous concept.

Hope spread out her arms at her furnished apartment, "I've finally finished moving in."

"Yay!" Amy clapped her hands, smiling broadly, "Does Shadow know yet?"

"No, not yet." Hope admitted.

"It's really nice that you moved here, Hope." Amy sighed and plopped down onto Hope's sofa, "Shadow was such a jerk before you got here."

"Why do you say that?" Hope asked, slightly curious.

"Well... He was obsessed with weapons- namely guns" Amy replied. Hope smiled and nodded,

"He still is."

Amy shrugged, "I guess that's true. Well, anyway; he never seemed to smile, except when he got a new rifle." Amy replied, "Now it seems like he's more..." she paused, looking for the right word, "Uh... Civilized."

Hope turned to look out the window, as if to see Shadow there, "Huh... And he wasn't before?"

The pink hedgehog shook her head, "No. If he hadn't saved Mobias twice from total ruin, G.U.N. would've killed him because of his ways."

Hope's eyes widened and she turned to face her friend, "That bad?"  
Amy nodded. Hope sighed, "Wow... I find it a little hard to believe that his change is all because of me being here."

Amy looked at Hope questioningly, "You don't know, then?"

"Know... what?"

"Shadow's head-over-heels for you." Amy replied.

Hope's cheeks burned, "Uh... what?"

"You haven't noticed then, huh? With everyone else, it's like he's constantly glaring and frowning."

"I've only seen him as cheerful." Hope commented then paused, "Oh... I guess I see your point... But... I don't get why. There really isn't anything special about me."

Amy shrugged, "You're going to have to ask him that yourself. I don't know."

Hope and Amy sat in silence for a minute, both contemplating Shadow's reasons. Hope, getting an idea, asked Amy, "How did you and Sonic meet?"

"What?" Amy looked up, not quite hearing the question.

"How did you and Sonic meet?"

"Sonic saved me from Dr. Eggman two years ago." Amy blushed as she closed her eyes, "He's always there for me when I'm in trouble."

Hope smiled faintly, "Shadow helped me on the Eggfleet when we met."

"Oh?" Amy asked, "What did he do?"

"He helped me get away from a couple of robots. Nothing too special, and... He kinda left me there instead of saving me..."

"Ooch... I guess he felt the love there and got scared." Amy laughed, "He's kind of a coward in that sense."

"Ahem." Hope cleared her throat, "Again, it wasn't anything special. He helped me get away from them, nothing romantic about it at all."

Amy sighed, "It sucks that Sonic's stuck in the hospital for three months. Shadow really has some anger-management issues."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Amy looked up, "I was told that Sonic and Shadow got into a fight over something during your first date."

"Who told you that?"

"Tails did." Amy replied, curious, "Why? Was it someone else?"

Hope once more looked out her window, "Tails must've covered for me." she thought, "I don't see why he did, though." Hope shook her head, "No, well, yes, er... nevermind." Hope muttered, "Change of subject." After a brief pause Hope perked up, "Well, in these three months you'll be able to get ready for everything."

"Every- OH! Right!" Amy perked up, "Yeah, but, Sonic still has to ask me the question."

"I think the bet already did that for you." Hope chuckled, "Or you could just go over there now and tell him your answer already."

Amy smiled and nodded, "Right." The pink hedgehog got up and opened the door, she turned around and said a quick, "see ya." before she left.

Hope moved over to her window and looked out at the city streets, bustling with people going which way and that. The white hedgehog sighed, and asked herself once more, "Why would Shadow love me?"

Sonic laid down on the hospital bed, staring up at the ceiling, as if to beg to someone to get him out of there. The door opened and a nurse smiled and announced, "Amy Rose is here to see you, Sonic."

Sonic sighed, "Okay."

The pink hedgehog walked through the door and the nurse left, closing said door behind her. Amy smiled and walked up next to Sonic, "How's it going?"

"Not too well... I can't leave here for three months." Sonic grumbled.

"Shadow hurt you pretty badly, didn't he?" Amy grimaced, "I mean, four broken ribs and numerous internal injuries has to hurt."

Sonic shook his head, "Shadow didn't fight me."

"Huh?" Amy asked, "He... didn't?"

"Nah, that witch did." Sonic replied, "The stinking girl fought dirty."

"Uh... Are you OK, Sonic?" Amy asked, concerned, "Tails told me that Shadow..."

"Shadow stood by in the sidelines." Sonic muttered, "That she-devil is the one that did this to me."

"So... Rouge fought you?"

"No." Sonic shook his head.

Amy crossed her arms, "Won't you tell me who did, then?"

Again, the blue hedgehog shook his head, "I don't really want to talk about it."

"Are you... Hiding something?" Amy asked.

Sonic looked away then announced, "I'm tired."

Amy gave one last look at her hero before leaving the room. Confused and sad, the pink hedgehog went home.

Sonic continued to lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling of the dark room. Alone with his thoughts. That girl is a blue-eyed snake. A viper, even. Sonic gritted his teeth and he struggled to sit up on the bed, "I'll get my revenge." He vowed to himself, stifling a yelp of pain. "I'll get my revenge on that hedgehog... one way or another."

Shadow shot another bullet from his sniper rifle at the Freedom Fighter's gun range- one of the only places he was allowed to carry his choice weapon. Sally Acorn walked up to him and asked, "Did you mean for this to happen?"

Shadow, knowing that the chipmunk was referring to Tails' lie replied, "I'll tell you once more, princess; no, I didn't."

"Sonic is in the hospital and..."

"And I don't give a Chao's tail. I may have hit him hard, but he wouldn't drop the freaking subject."

"And that subject was?" Sally asked.

Shadow scoffed, "It doesn't matter. It's not like you care."

"My friend is hurt. You bet I care about the reason!"

Shadow glared at the Acorn Princess, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try me."

Shadow shot the target once more; shattering the bulls-eye mark. He huffed, "If I told you, you would probably kick me out of the kingdom for saying it."

"Is it that big of a deal, Shadow?"

"Yes. It is."

Sally rolled her eyes and sighed, "We both know that you can't be banished from the Acorn kingdom from just saying something."

Shadow, satisfied enough with the answer he explained, "Hope told me that Sonic took her to the Eggfleet because he and Dr. Eggman made some kind of deal."

Sally scoffed, "And you believed her?"

"I saw Sonic leave the Eggfleet not long before I saw Hope there too."

"That doesn't mean..."

"Hope was cuffed, and they came from the same room." Shadow glared, "I think I have enough proof to believe her."

"Sonic and Tails went up there to save her." Princess Sally Acorn reminded the anti-hero, "And they came back with her, didn't they?"

Shadow frowned then shook his head, "No. Hope wouldn't have gone with them. Not by a long shot."

"Why do you say that?"

"Hope hates Sonic." Shadow explained, "If what she says isn't true, then why wouldn't she tolerate him?"

"Hope hates Sonic?" Sally asked, "That's ridiculous. How can..?" Sally paused a moment to think, "Okay. You've made a point. But we both know that Sonic wouldn't take a bet that seriously."

Shadow raised an eyebrow, "That being said, you don't know what the terms of the bet was. He agreed to make up his mind about who he was going to marry." Sally's eyes widened. Shadow crossed his arms, "Sonic would take that seriously."

"Did... Did he say anything about that?" Sally asked, anxiously.

Shadow went back to his practice and shook his head, "I didn't ask him."

Sally hurried off to the hospital, leaving Shadow to his shooting.

The mad Dr. Eggman paced, how long was it going to take for his robots to come back with the last two emeralds? He looked at the glass shelf where five different colored gems sat, two empty pedestals remained. He waited for another hour before a large robot came back- a violet jewel glowed in its compartment. It stated, "UNIT HAS ACQUIRED THE CHAOS EMERALD."

Dr. Eggman greedily took the violet emerald and placed it on one of the pedestals before turning back to the robot, "I need the last one. Go, and hurry!"

"COMMAND FROM DR. EGGMAN NOTED. LOADING RESPONSE IN 3... 2... 1..."

"JUST GO ALREADY!" The mad doctor shouted as the robot turned and left. The human huffed in frustration and glanced once more at the shelf, "One more emerald and my plan will commence. Since Sonic is out of the way, it'll be an easy capture. Mobias will soon be perfected with machinery."

Amy felt lost. Why was Sonic being so mean all of a sudden? It was obvious that he was in pain but that didn't give him any right to be mad at her. Her phone rang; Rouge was calling. Amy sighed and answered it, "Hi Rouge."

"You don't sound too happy, Amy." Rouge noted, "Is something bothering you?"

"Yeah... Sonic isn't acting like himself. He's acting more like Shadow- but meaner." Amy sighed.

"Yeouch. It's probably just the meds. I've heard they can make a person act differently. I'm sure he'll snap out of it."

"I really hope so." The pink hedgehog said.

"Speaking of Hope, have you seen her new place yet?"

"Oh, yeah. I was over there just a little while ago. She said that she's finally completely settled in." Amy announced, cheering up a bit, "But, it's funny, she didn't know that Shadow was completely in love with her until now."

"What? Seriously?" Rouge laughed, "It's pretty easy to tell that he is. The poor guy's an open book."

"Heh, yeah. I guess it may just be because she's so new here. Hope's only been here a little more than a week."

"That's true." Rouge admitted, "But even then, it isn't like Shadow can hide it."

"He can deny it, but he sure can't hide it." Amy laughed.

"No he can't." Rouge agreed, laughing as well, "Oh, is it that time already? Well, I have to go for now. You hang tight there, kid. See you."

"See you later."

Amy hung up the phone and sat down on a chair. She caught herself soaking back into self-pity and so she hurried over to Hope's apartment, hoping to find some comforting words.

Hope answered the doorbell, expecting to see someone other than Amy there on her doorstep. "Oh. Amy." Hope said, "What's up?"

Amy rubbed her arm, "Sonic was..."

"A jerk?" Hope asked, a little harshly, catching herself she corrected, "Oh, sorry. I didn't mean..."

"No... you're right. He was being a bit of a jerk." Amy sighed, "I'm okay though... Really..."

Hope shook her head, "Sorry Amy, you're mouth is saying one thing but everything else is saying the opposite." She moved out of the way and allowed Amy to come in, "Here, we can talk about it inside."

Amy trudged inside and collapsed on the couch, holding her face in her hands, "Oh!" She sobbed, "I've never seen Sonic like this. It's like he and Shadow switched places."

Hope coughed, she didn't like her friend being compared to her enemy. She sat down next to Amy, "I don't think he meant anything by it. He got hurt pretty badly and a lot of people end up venting their anger onto someone who had nothing to do with it."

Amy dropped her arms into her lap, showing the tears flowing down her cheeks, "So I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time?"

"Not quite. Wrong time, yes. But I don't think it was the wrong place. You wanted to see your boyfriend, that's a good thing. He just wasn't feeling great. That had nothing to do with you."

Amy smiled and turned to Hope, "Thanks. I-I needed that."

Hope smiled back, "Any time." The white hedgehog stood up, "Can I get you something, some hot cocoa, maybe?"

"Sure."

Hope went about making the drink and asked, "Is there anything else you'd like to talk about?"

"Mmmm... There is one thing... Sonic said that Shadow wasn't the one who attacked him."

Hope's gut knotted, "Oh?"

"He didn't say who it was, though. But he was saying it was a girl." Amy replied, "Thing is, Rouge is the only one that I know who wouldn't mind getting into fights. But even she wouldn't go so far as to hospitalize Sonic."

Hope sighed, partially in relief, "Well... It was about Seven Forty-five when Sonic was attacked, right?"

"About that, yeah." Amy nodded.

"It's possible that some girl had a grudge against some boy and she couldn't see clearly and thought that Sonic was the boy who hurt her." Hope shrugged, bringing a mug of hot cocoa to Amy, "It may just have been a case of misunderstanding."

Amy looked into the swirling, hot brown liquid, "I don't think so. It wasn't that dark, plus it would've been easy to see that it was Sonic at a closer look."

Hope shrugged, "It was just a suggestion."

Amy sighed, "Well... I just hope that Sonic gets better and stops being a jerk." She sipped at the cocoa tenderly, doing her best to avoid burning her lips and tongue.

Hope nodded, not saying anything. The white hedgehog reached for her phone as it alerted her of a text from Shadow.

Hope,  
I'll be a little late tonight, I need to finish up a couple of things here at the Freedom Fighter base.  
Meet me at our normal spot in the park, okay?  
Shadow.

Hope started texting her reply when Amy asked, completely forgetting why she was so upset, "Who's that?"

"Oh, just Shadow. He wants to meet me at the park in a little while."

"Anything important?"

"No clue." Hope shrugged.

"Well, aren't you going to ask him?"

Hope looked at the pink hedgehog, "Ask him what?"

Amy gave Hope a 'you know what I'm talking about' look, "The reason why he's in love with you."

"Oh... Erm... I'm sure he has his reasons and..."

"You want to know but you don't." Amy sighed, "And I thought you weren't so clueless."

Hope frowned, "If it bugs you so much, fine I'll ask him."

"Yay!" Amy smiled and watched Hope punch in the question.

Hope sent the text and looked at Amy, who giggled into her mug, "I  
hope you're happy."

"Heehee, tell me what he says, okay?"

Hope sighed and opened the new text. Reading it, she smiled a little, causing Amy to wonder even more. "Well? What does it say?" Asked the little pink hedgehog.

"I... Can't tell you." Hope blushed, reading the text over and over again.

"Come on, Hope. PLEASE?!" Amy begged.

"No... It's private..."

"That just makes me even more curious." Amy smiled, reaching for the phone, "Come on, let me see!"

"NO!" Hope clutched the phone next to her chest, "Really, Amy, it isn't any of your business."

Amy frowned, "I'm making it my business. Now gimme."

Hope shook her head, "No way."

"I tried being nice." Amy leaned over and pried the phone away from Hope. The white hedgehog tried to get the phone back and Amy read:

Hope,  
I've never told anyone this before but...

When I lived on ARK, I only had one friend, a human girl. She was my best friend but when an incident happened, she had to go. I guess you could say that you remind me of her- in a good way.  
Shadow  
P.S. Don't let anyone else see this.

"D'awwww!" Amy cooed, finally letting Hope have her phone back, "That's so cute!"

Hope sighed, "So much for his P.S. ..." She closed the phone.

"Aren't you going to reply?"

"Yes... When I see him in person." Hope said, glaring at the pink hedgehog.

"Oh, come on. He might want to hear it now."

"Then I'll call him." Hope explained.

"Okay, that works too!" Amy looked at Hope expectantly. Hope just  
gave Amy a dirty look. The pink hedgehog huffed, "Oh, fine. Do you want me to call him and tell him that I looked at the text?"

"NO. I DON'T." Hope shouted, eyes terrified.

"Okay, then call him yourself."

Hope sighed then looked at the clock, "Oh, I guess I have to go over there now. I'll see you later, Amy."

"Yep." Amy stood up, handed the mug to Hope and left, winking at the white hedgehog.

Hope sighed and dumped the cup into the sink, muttering, "Nosy hedgehog."

Shadow waited patiently on the park bench, staring at the bush in front of him until he heard footsteps nearby. Turning to look, Hope had her hands up, as if to sneak up on someone. She dropped her arms and pouted, "Darn, I wanted to scare you."

"Good luck with that." Shadow smirked, "Did you get..."

"Your text? Yeah. I did." Hope blushed a little.

"Oh." Shadow blushed a little as well, "I assumed you didn't, since you didn't respond."

"I couldn't have responded." Hope replied in a huff, "I had a guest at that time and she was being nosy."

"Please don't tell me it was Rouge." Shadow groaned.

"It wasn't."

"THANK you."

"It was Amy."

"... She's just as bad." Shadow sighed, "If not worse."

"Well, Amy had just come from seeing Sonic and... He isn't doing too well."

"How bad?" Shadow asked, "He isn't still in intensive care, is he?"

"No. He's up." Hope replied, "He just isn't himself, or so Amy says."

"Not entirely surprising." Shadow noted, "You did beat him up."

"Actually, Amy knows that you didn't harm Sonic. He told her so."

"And I'm assuming she doesn't know who as well, huh?"

"No. If she did she wouldn't have come to me." Hope replied, "Amy knows from Sonic that it was a girl who did him in. Actually, she assumed that Sonic was talking about Rouge."

"Heh. If only that were the case." Shadow chuckled, "Anyway, onto better topics, how was your day?"

Hope smiled, "Decent. I've finished moving into the apartment, and Sally said that she'll get my papers to join the Freedom Fighters in the  
morning. Of course, she was a little crossed when she found out that we were seeing each other. I guess Tails told everyone that you attacked Sonic."

Shadow rolled his eyes, "Yeah. I know. Sally talked to me a couple of times about it."

"Oh. Right. I guess I should've known that." Hope laughed nervously, "She's the princess after all."

"Not only that, but she had a thing for Sonic as well."

"What? Really?" Hope asked, "I didn't know that."

"Yeah, she does. Same reason why Amy likes him too."

Hope grumbled, "Because he saved them." She huffed, "If Sonic's so great then why was he the reason why I was captured by Dr. Eggman?"

"Humph. Who knows?" Shadow rhetorically asked.

Hope paused for a moment then replied, "Dr. Eggman and Sonic, is it possible that they would work together?"

"Huh?"

"Dr. Egg..."

"I heard you, and there's no way Sonic would tell you."

"Then maybe Dr. Eggman will."

"Hope. That's crazy." Shadow warned her, "Dr. Eggman would kill you."

Hope sighed, "I know. But... I think it may be important for me to know the reason why Sonic would betray me like that."

Shadow glanced back up at the bush then finally replied, "If that's how you feel. Okay. But I'm coming with you."

Hope smiled and nodded, "I wouldn't have it any other way."

Shadow blushed and looked away.

No one could have expected what was going to occur during the next day. Nothing could have prepared them either from the knowledge about to be gained.


	9. Chapter 9

Hope got up early the next morning, excited and dreading going up to the Eggfleet. What was she going to do? Just ask a madman the reason why he and the "hero of Mobias" made a deal? Hope said to herself, "Yes. For that very reason, I have to go."

Shadow was going to pick her up at noon to leave- giving her time to do her interview with Sally Acorn, as well as some other menial things. Looking at the clock, Hope started to rush. She had a half-hour to get to the Freedom Fighter HQ for her interview. Although she didn't know Sally, Hope could guess that the princess didn't like to wait. The white hedgehog moved swiftly and hurried out the door with only fifteen minutes to get there and to be in the interview room.

Thankfully for Hope, the Freedom Fighter HQ was only a short distance away, allowing her at least seven minutes to collect herself. The white hedgehog waited only a few short minutes before Sally Acorn came in. The chipmunk seemed slightly surprised to see Hope already there in the room. She smiled and said jokingly, "Oh. You're here already. Usually I have to get someone else to remind the people I'm interviewing." She sat down in her desk, "So, how do you like the Acorn Kingdom, Hope?"

Hope smiled, "It's a really nice place. I've already made a couple of friends."

"Good. Good." The chipmunk messed around with a couple of papers on her desk, looking for a specific one. Finding it, she read a number of questions, most of them asking why Hope wanted to be a Freedom Fighter. After what seemed like an hour the chipmunk princess smiled, "Alright. You're free to go."

Hope smiled and stood up, said a brief 'goodbye' and left the Freedom Fighters HQ.

Sonic was miserable. He ached to be able to run again. He loved having the wind on his face and to not have to worry about stupid people. Of course, Hope and Shadow, being the sadistic jerks they were, loved the concept of seeing him in the hospital that was full of illness. Sonic would get his revenge. He'd get it one way or another. But how? How could Sonic get revenge on a girl who has only been in the Acorn Kingdom for a week or on a hedgehog who's known to be a jerk? Sonic laid on the hospital  
bed, thinking of any and all ways to get his revenge.

A nurse interrupted his daydreams with the announcement that Tails was there to see him. Sonic nodded and tried to sit up, doing so with some issues. The nurse left and Tails came in. The small yellow fox seemed fairly chipper that morning. "Morning, Sonic."

"Morning, Tails. How's it going?"

"Pretty good. I've gotten the X-Tornado all fixed up, plus with some adjustments so that the Chaos Emerald won't get stolen." Tails smiled.

"Great. I'd go with you on the test flight but..." Sonic motioned to the bed.

Tails nodded, "Yeah. That's gotta be rough."

"I've dealt with worse." The blue hedgehog scoffed, referring to when he was in trouble with G.U.N. when Shadow first appeared, "That faker got me into some pretty big trouble."

"It's a little silly that you can't forget about that, Sonic." Tails commented, "Shadow has changed since then. Especially in this past week."

"Huh. Maybe he needs a doctor as well." Sonic chuckled.

"I don't know if he'd want a doctor, considering that he's been in a better mood now than he ever has been."

"Considering the condition I'm in." Sonic thought. Aloud, "Why's that so?"

Tails' ears fell to the side nervously, "See... He's been dating you-know-who for the past week and..." He sighed at his friend's change of mood from happy and curious to slightly angry, "Sonic. No one else knows about it."

"I'm aware of that." Sonic said, "But I don't see why. She should get what she deserves."

Tails sighed, "Sonic. I don't know what the fight was about. But Hope isn't bad."

"Then why didn't she stop?" Sonic growled his question, "She knew full well what she could do. And she didn't stop."

Tails' ears pulled slightly back, annoyed, "You don't know that."

"Why else would Eggman want her?" Sonic asked.

"... What?"

Realizing what he had just said Sonic laid back down on the pillow and dreaded answering Tails' question. Sonic bit his lip and did his best to explain without making him seem like the bad guy, "Look, Tails. You know that it was a really bad idea to make that bet with Shadow, but it was over and done with and I... I needed some help from someone who was more diabolical than Shadow to fix it... Eggman being the only one..."

"So then Hope was telling the truth." Tails took a step back, "You sold her out." The yellow fox looked at his friend; disbelief written over his features, "I don't get it. You had help here. You always have help here. You didn't... You didn't have to do that!" Tails ran out of the room, leaving the blue hedgehog alone to rethink his thoughts.

Tails ran back to his garage, needing something to do to get his mind off of the betrayal. Knuckles was standing right outside, looking for the yellow fox. "Hi, Knuckles!" The yellow fox shouted to the treasure hunter.

The red echidna turned to face Tails, smiling faintly, "Hey Tails. I heard the news about Sonic."

Tails' face darkened, "Oh, yeah. That. I just came from the hospital."

Knuckles' face also darkened, "Is Sonic OK?"

"He's awake, but he's going to have to be in bed for another three months." Quietly he muttered, "Serves him right, too."

Knuckles didn't catch the last part, but judging by Tails' expression, it wasn't good. "What's wrong then?"

Tails bit his lip, "Did you hear about the bet Sonic and Shadow had last week?"

"Huh? No. I didn't hear about a bet." Knuckles replied, "Why? Was it something important?"

"Only if you consider Sonic betting too much and the thought of losing caused him to do the unthinkable." Tails shrugged, "Other than that, nope."

"What do you mean by 'unthinkable'?"

Tails bit his lip, trying to keep back tears, breathing deeply the yellow fox answered, "Sonic... Gave someone up... T-to..." Tails struggled to keep his cool. Knuckles bent down and held onto the little fox's shoulders,

"C'mon Tails. Who did Sonic give someone to?"

Swallowing back the threatening tears Tails blurted out, "Dr. Eggman."

"Tails, do you really think that's true?" Knuckles asked, "Since when would Sonic care that much about a bet?"

"Shadow challenged Sonic that if he couldn't get a date, and not have her run away, Sonic would marry Amy."

"Okay, but I still don't see what this has to do with Sonic doing something unthinkable."

"Neither do I!" Tails shouted, "That's what makes it so unthinkable! Sonic did it, and I can't find a reason why he would."

"And Sonic's in the hospital because..?"

"Hope, the girl Sonic handed over to Eggman, hates Sonic so much now that she kicked the tar out of him." Tails explained, "She was really mad."

Knuckles chuckled, "Sonic got hospitalized by a girl? Ouch, talk about a blow to his pride."

Tails nodded, "I-I told everyone that it was Shadow, since that seemed more believable... but now..."

"So... Let me get this straight; Sonic made a bet with Shadow, Sonic thought he was going to lose and so he asked for help from Dr. Eggman, Sonic kidnaps Hope, Hope gets away, and in revenge, Hope beats up Sonic. That 'bout it?" Tails nodded slowly and Knuckles continued, "It seems like all of this is one big misunderstanding and some people got hurt from it."

"Well, yeah..." Tails admitted, "It sure seems like that, but there has to be more than just that."

"What do you mean?"

"It just seems... Too easy to explain."

"Does everything have to be a huge complicated idea?"

"Well... No..." Tails looked down at his feet, "But almost nothing is simple and easy."

"I guess that's true. Anyway, how's Sonic doing as far as recovery goes?"

"The doctors say that it'll be a little while before he can get up- let alone run again." Tails shook his head sadly, "To think that all of this wouldn't have happened if Sonic and Shadow didn't make that bet. Sonic wouldn't hate Hope so much- if at all, not to mention that he wouldn't be in the hospital either."

"So what happened to Hope?" Knuckles asked, "I know she was taken to the Eggfleet, is she still there?"

"Huh? No. Hope's in the Acorn Kingdom." Tails corrected, "Last I heard, she was getting into an apartment and has been hanging out with Shadow."

Knuckles smiled and said jokingly, "When's the wedding?"

"What?" Tails asked.

The red echidna elaborated, "Shadow is hanging out with a girl, right? There's obvious that something's going on between them."

Tails laughed nervously, "Well, actually, I think the only reason why he does hang out around her is because she's one of the few people here that would even think of beating Sonic up."

"No way, he's totally in love with her." Amy perked up from behind the two. She giggled, "Sorry, I couldn't resist overhearing your conversation."

"How... How much did you hear?"

"I heard Knuckles mention something about a wedding that's when I started listening." The pink hedgehog replied, "Anyway, Shadow's TOTALLY head-over-heels for Hope." She giggled, "It's actually pretty cute!"

Awkwardness between the two men boiled over and Knuckles finally spoke, "That's... Nice... Amy..."

"Uhhhh... Subject change?" The yellow fox offered.

"Good idea." Knuckles nodded.

"Don't you want to hear how I know?" Amy asked, realizing that Tails and Knuckles were going to leave her out of the conversation. Seeing that neither of them cared, the pink hedgehog muttered, "Men" under her breath and left.

Shadow and Hope raced through the meadows towards the ominous fleet of ships overhead. Hope wondered how exactly they were going to get up there; the ships were at least twenty thousand feet into the air. Shadow soon slowed to a stop, engulfed by the huge shadow that was cast from overhead. Hope finally voiced her question, "How are we supposed to get up there?"

Shadow looked up at the Eggfleet and replied, "Easy. But you have to trust me."

Hope looked at her friend cautiously, "That doesn't sound good."

Shadow smirked, "Just close your eyes, it'll be over in a few seconds." Hope, reluctant and nervous, obeyed. A sharp flash of wind took her breath away- but it was only for a moment. "You can open your eyes now."

Hope, again, obeyed, and looked around at the all-too familiar metallic landscape. "How did..?"

"Probably the same way Sonic got you up here the first time, except you want to be here now."

Hope nodded, "Right." She looked at the door ahead of them, "Any idea where the doctor might be?"

Shadow didn't respond, he only walked forward, motioning for her to follow. Hope, took that as a 'no'but followed anyway; she didn't have a better idea, nor any knowledge of how to navigate through the air ships. The two hedgehogs moved quickly and quietly through the Eggfleet, searching for the mad engineer.

Hope looked around, curious on how Shadow knew his way around this place: Every hallway seemed identical. A loud metallic voice alerted, "INTRUDER. INTRUDER. INTRUDER."

Hope turned around and faced Shadow. But it wasn't him. This Shadow looked like he was made from metal. Its robotic voice repeated, and more of them appeared. The thing's arm transformed into a gun and Hope, seeing no alternative, ran. She ran faster than she ever thought she could. Stopping momentarily, she huffed and listened to hear for the robots once more. Nothing. Not even a footstep.

The white hedgehog sighed in relief, before realizing that she had no idea where she was. Panic seemed to bubble inside her and she looked around for her friend, and saw no one. Heavy footsteps behind her alerted the white hedgehog of something's presence. Hope turned and faced a human; Dr. Eggman.

It was quiet. Too quiet. Shadow asked, "Hope, is something wrong?" No response. Shadow, confused, turned around and expected Hope to be there, but all he saw was an empty hallway. "Hope?" He called, "Hope?!"

The black hedgehog retraced his steps, looking for his lover, "Hope?"

Footsteps replied to his call; heavy and metallic footsteps. The black hedgehog moved quickly and saw three androids- all that looked like him- move down the hallway, all repeating, "INTRUDER. DESTROY THE INTRUDER."

Shadow's gut churned, Did Hope lose sight of him and followed these robots by mistake? The hedgehog followed the androids closely, knowing full well that they would suspect him as one of them. Shadow bit his lip and hoped that his assumption proved correct, and yet begged that he was wrong.

Hope's eyes widened, "Uh... D-dr. Eggman."

The doctor raised his eyebrow, "So, I'm 'Dr. Eggman' now?" The white hedgehog took a step back, and he demanded, "Where's the emerald?" Hope turned down and away from the human, "We had a deal, didn't we? Or don't you remember?"

"I remember." Hope admitted, "But I don't want to be a part of this."

"Care to explain what you mean, Hope?"

Hope slowly nodded and stated, "I've found what I wanted, a home, a job, friends, and even someone who cares about me. I found those in the city, that everyone claims that you're trying to get. I don't want to be a part of anything that would harm them in any way."

Dr. Eggman nodded slowly and crossed his arms, "That's it then? Little doo-dads that you have in a city has caused you to see differently than I do. Did you never think that continuing to work for me would get you everything you would ever want?" Hope paused, giving it some thought while the mad doctor continued, "I think you've been hearing too much from those buffoons in the city."

Hope simply shook her head, "All I could ever want is what I have now."

"Perhaps you aren't thinking beyond the necessities, I can show you an easy life, but I need the chaos emeralds to do so." Dr. Eggman smiled triumphantly as he could see Hope cave into his words, "What do you say?"

Hope looked at Dr. Eggman and replied, "Do you know where I got my job?"

Confused by Hope's question, Dr. Eggman replied, "No, why?"

Hope's gaze of almost convinced changed to determination, "I'm a Freedom Fighter."

Dr. Eggman was shocked. "What?"

"I'm a Freedom Fighter." Hope repeated, "And that alone is reason enough to say 'no'."

The white hedgehog turned to leave. Red-hot fury and anger welled up inside of the mad doctor and he shouted, almost without thinking, "You don't even know who you are! I created you!"

Hope, shocked, turned on her heels and glanced at the scientist, wide-eyed in disbelief, quietly she asked, "What?"

"You are my creation, Hope. Your whole purpose in this world is to serve me!"

Hope's jaw slackened and she shook her head, again in utter disbelief, "I... No... I'm not... I-I can't be."

Dr. Eggman, regaining his upper hand, calmed down, "It's the truth. Why else would I have sent Sonic to get you back here?"

Hope bit her lip, still shaking her head, repeating under her breath, "No... Just... no..." The white hedgehog backed up a couple paces then she turned and ran.


	10. Chapter 10

Hope ran. She ran through the corridors, not caring about what she ran into- or away from. She just couldn't stay there a moment longer. Too many questions perplexed her, too many that Hope already knew the answer to, and that answer was unthinkable. Unthinkable to believe, but the only answer that made any sense.

Her legs kept moving, tears falling from her cheeks. If this is the truth- she couldn't go back. She couldn't risk it. Even if everyone understood, they wouldn't see her the same ever again. Now she was a traitor, an outcast even. Tears kept falling as the realization dug deeper into her: I have to run away.

The white hedgehog raced past a group of Shadow androids, Shadow amongst them. "HOPE!" He shouted after her. Hope didn't hear him, and so he chased after her. "Hope!" He shouted once more, "Stop!"

Hope, seeing it was Shadow and not a robot, she stopped and fell onto her knees, sobbing. Shadow caught up to her, putting a comforting arm around her he asked, "What happened?"

"You... You were right... I... I didn't want to know..." Hope gasped between sobs.

Shadow helped Hope up, she still crying. Shadow's gut churned, "We should leave here."

Hope composed herself and nodded. Shadow led Hope out of the Eggfleet, being careful that she wouldn't lose sight of him again. Shadow brought Hope back to her apartment without another word, before he left Hope said softly, "Thank you for being there."

Shadow looked up and around, Hope's eyes were pink from crying, but she had a soft smile on her face. Shadow nodded, "You're welcome." And with that he left.

Hope went inside her apartment, wiping her eyes from any other stray tears. Her phone jingled on the table and she picked it up, "Hello?"

"Hey Hope, it's Tails."

"Hi Tails, how's it going?"

His voice darkened and he replied, "I... I found out why you attacked Sonic..."

Hope swallowed and replied, "I see..."

"I... I just... I just want to tell you that Sonic isn't that kind of person normally... And... He may not like you, or vise-versa, but I think he needs to see for himself that you aren't a bad person either."

"It's unlikely he'll see me." Hope replied, "Even if he did, I doubt he'd listen to me."

Tails paused for a moment, "It'd help either way. As long as he hears  
from you..."

Hope sighed, "I know you want to help your friend Tails, but at the moment I'm not completely ready to forgive him." I added, "But I will when I am ready."

Tails perked up a little, "Really Hope?"

"Sure."

"Thank you so much!"

"You're welcome."

"See ya later then!"

"Okay."

Tails hung up and Hope listened to the dial tone for a moment before shutting the phone as well, she wondering if she'd ever be willing to forgive Sonic of the betrayal.

Dr. Eggman paced in his study, plotting his own revenge on Hope, his creation who turned against him. "There has to be a way for her to realize that I'm the only way she can have everything she needs, then she'll work for me. But how...?" He glanced down at the book he was reading, a book about building explosives. The page was turned to chaos energy. After looking at the page title for a minute Dr. Eggman grinned evilly, "I think I have the answer..." He chuckled to himself mischievously as he began to build blueprints of a powerful machine.

Meanwhile, back in the Acorn Kingdom, Shadow was taking a walk around the park, collecting his thoughts, remembering his past. "Think of the good." Hope's words kept penetrating his thoughts and he asked himself, "How? How can I think of the good when Maria died?" Images of Maria's death flashed again, seeming to be constantly for Shadow. His stomach churned, but Hope's voice still smiled, "Think of the good."

Recent memories of Hope now flooded Shadow's thoughts, he sat down on the bench, thinking about his past and Hope. Hope and Maria had little in common, but why did she remind him so much of her? Shadow, stumped, decided to think about something else, but Hope's words still stuck, "Think of the good."


	11. Chapter 11

The next morning Hope was up and ready for her first day of work and hurried down to the Freedom Fighter's HQ. Once there, Sally stopped her and asked, "Hope, do you know what this is?" Sally handed to her a file, it was titled "Hope" the princess continued, "Rouge found it a while ago and gave it to me.

Hope opened the file curiously and found a newspaper article about two pods being sent off into space from ARK, according to the date, it was written fifty years ago. Hope shook her head, "No, this means nothing to me."

Sally nodded, satisfied, then smiled, "Sorry for bugging you about this, I just had to make sure."

"It's Okay." Hope nodded, "But, where did Rouge find that?"

"ARK, why do you ask?"

"No reason, just curious." Hope smiled and went into the HQ.

Sally stood where she was, still with the file, she opened it again and said, "It's odd that we found this newspaper article in Shadow's documents as well. It means something, obviously, but what?" The acorn princess went into the headquarters as well, still wondering what it could mean. Then an idea came to her, "Hope is starting as a field agent, why not ask her to look into it? It'd be her first mission, and Shadow could accompany her..." The more Sally thought about it, the more she liked it, she left the building and went to the shooting range to find Shadow.

Shadow was using his .357 Magnum pistol on some targets cut out to look like silhouettes of people. The acorn princess waited for him to reload before telling him, "I've got a mission for you."

"Not interested." Shadow replied without a thought, aiming the gun at the target.

"Hear me out before you turn it down, Shadow." Sally replied, watching bullets hit time after time the target's bullseyes.

"Fine." was his reply.

Sally handed him the folder, being sure her thumb covered the title. Shadow put his weapon down and looked at it, recognizing the article, he asked, "Why are you bringing up my file again?"

"This isn't your file." She replied, "It's Hope's."

Shadow looked up at the title, "What?" Sally was right, it was Hope's file alright, "Why is this in here then?"

"That's what I'd like to know. Rouge found it..."

"On ARK, I know. I was there when she found it." He replied.

Surprised by this new information Sally continued, "Well, I'm sure you know that Hope's a new field agent, if you wouldn't mind, I'd like for both of you to look into this."

"Have you talked to her yet?"

"Not yet." Sally replied, taking the folder back, "I just wanted to get your answer first."

"Fine, I'll do it." Shadow replied, taking his gun again and aiming at the target.

Sally left the shooting range to find Hope.

The white hedgehog was talking to Nicole when Sally walked up. Hope turned to face the princess when Sally handed her the file again, "I've got a mission for you."

Hope read the title, and noted, "You showed me this just a few minutes ago."

Sally nodded, "I know. I'd like for you and Shadow to go up to ARK and see if you can find more about this."

"Why ARK?" Hope asked, sure that she was from the Eggfleet.

"Rouge found the article there. I think ARK holds more to this than just the article."

Hope nodded, "Okay, then. When am I going to go?"

"Uh, you and Shadow are going, and you're going when he's ready." Sally responded, "I did say that Shadow was going to go with you."

Hope nodded, "Oh, right. Where's he now?"

"The shooting range, last I saw him."

Hope nodded and, taking the file, went on to find her friend.

The two hedgehogs met up in the hallway going to the shooting range. Hope smiled, "So, are you ready to go?"

Shadow briefly nodded, "I know two ways to get there, but one, I'm sure, is out of the question."

"Where is that one?"

"The Eggfleet." He replied, "The other is at G.U.N."

Hope nodded, "Let's go the second way."

Shadow agreed and they hurried off to G.U.N. headquarters.

The distance between the Freedom Fighters headquarters and G.U.N.'s HQ was about a day's walk- or a half-hour run for Shadow and Hope. Shadow originally thought that he would have to drag Hope along like how Sonic drags Tails along, but he was surprised when she caught up with him, and was able to keep his pace the whole way. When they got there, Shadow broke the two G.U.N. robots there to get inside.

"Was that necessary?" Hope asked, looking down at the rubble.

Shadow explained, "G.U.N. doesn't like me much, they would have shot at me if I tried to come in anyway."

"Rouge told me that too." Hope thought to herself, "I wonder why." Hope followed Shadow inside the building, which was more like a warehouse than the office that she had imagined. "What are we doing here?" She asked, "This looks more like a warehouse."

"It _is_ a warehouse." Shadow confirmed, "The teleporter isn't used very much now, so they stuck it back here."

"Why isn't it used much?" Hope asked, "Isn't ARK still being used?"

Even in the dim light shadow looked solemn, "No, it isn't. It hasn't been for years." The black hedgehog moved a large box with a push and uncovered a large circular device. He plugged the cord into a nearby outlet and the machine turned on. A red light turned on and the circle opened up into a portal, Shadow motioned for Hope to get closer, "Step in."

Hope did and was warped to a very dark and dusty place. She stepped out of the teleporter and coughed, "Is this the right place?"

Shadow answered as he stepped off the teleporter, "This is it. ARK."


	12. Chapter 12

Hope coughed once more, "This place really hasn't been used for years. What for?"

Shadow coughed then said, "Let's go, the faster we find more information, the better."

"He doesn't really want to be here." Hope noted, "But isn't this where he was born?" Hope followed the black hedgehog through a couple of corridors before going into a huge room with nothing in it except a pathway to a computer, which glowed with an eerie blue light. Shadow walked up to the computer and pushed a couple of buttons. A holographic screen came up and asked for a password. Shadow typed in the five letter word and the computer shone white, files littered the screen and Hope sighed, "It'll take awhile to go through all of those files."

"We don't have to." Shadow said, clicking one in the corner. Its title matched the one in the folder that Hope was holding. Three things popped up under it, and Shadow clicked the first one- it too was the article, but its contents were legible. Hope read the article to herself, "Two pods sent from ARK, G.U.N. captured one, the other not found."

Shadow read it over and over again, frowning, "It doesn't make any sense."  
"It doesn't?" Hope asked, "Why would that be?"

"Because I was the one in the escape pod that was found." He replied, not taking his eyes off the screen.


	13. Chapter 13

Hope glanced at Shadow, her eyes wide in surprise, "H-how..?"

"I guess I have no choice but to tell you everything..." Shadow sighed. He looked over at Hope, his eyes dark and spaced as he relayed his story to her:

"When ARK was still active, Professor Gerald was working on a project to create the ultimate life form. He created two, a prototype, known as The BioLizard... And me." He paused a little while for dramatic effect. Shadow continued, "On ARK I only had one friend, a human girl named Maria, she was... Probably the only person I thought I ever would care for..." Shadow's voice started to crack, "And then GUN came..." He looked down at the floor, "... And they killed her... along with the rest of ARK..."

Hope stood there, stunned, "I... They just came..?"

Shadow shook his head, "There were rumors spreading about Professor Gerald making a weapon that could destroy Mobias... They were true, and GUN shutdown ARK forever."

"There's a weapon on ARK that can destroy a planet?!"

Shadow nodded and he typed something on the computer. The screen went away and a panel opened, "This is where you could put the Chaos Emeralds in to activate the weapon."

Hope stared at the seven holes in the panel, each one designed to hold an emerald, "Wow... That's amazing... But what does this have to do with me?"

"I think that's what Sally wants to find out." Shadow replied, "Or maybe Dr. Eggman is pulling our legs."

"But why would he?"

"INTRUDER. INTRUDER." A monotonic voice shouted from behind them.

Shadow reacted first, he leaped out at the robot and attacked, but only after it shot a bullet. It ricochet off the ceiling and floor and then hit Hope in the stomach. Hope gasped in shock mixed with pain and she fell back on the desk, clutching where the bullet had struck. White fluid came from the wound, and; although it closed quickly, Hope passed out.

It all happened within a moment to Shadow. The thud of Hope falling and the flashbacks, there wasn't anything he could've done to prevent this from happening. "Hope..." The black hedgehog stepped hesitantly towards the fallen figure, "Hope... Get up..." Tears threatened his eyes, "Hope, get up!" No response. Shadow swallowed hard and bent down next to her, "No... This... This can't be happening... Not again." He stood up quickly and gave one last glance down at Hope before trudging out of the room.

~~~

Hope regained consciousness a while later, still on ARK, but alone this time. Where was Shadow? Hope stood up quickly, she doubled over and kept herself upright against the desk, the full amount of pain from the bullet came and went in a second. Hope panted for a moment, making sure that the pain truly was gone before venturing out of the room.

Was this the same ARK she was in? Dents on walls seemed frequent, some that were tall and thin and others were just a large dent that caved inwards. Hope stared at one of these dents and contemplated on how it came. Her eyes widened as the thought dawned on her, that Shadow may have thought she died. The white hedgehog looked around, the dents may have been recent, but just how recent? It was possible that Shadow was still on ARK, but could Hope find him? The white hedgehog followed the hallways with dents, although she knew nothing about ARK, if Shadow made those dents, the halls may lead her to him.

BANG BANG BANG. Hope was startled by the noise ahead and she covered her ears, flinching at every pounding noise that proceeded. It stopped suddenly and Hope dared to uncover her ears, her voice failed her and she could only mouth her question, "Shadow?"

Hope turned the corner and found Shadow slumped up against the wall, his breaths were short and forced, one fist clenched and was raised higher on the wall, right below a number of dents that Hope was following. Hope couldn't see Shadow's face, but it was more than obvious that he wasn't taking her "death" well. She asked again, but it was again inaudible. Hope stood there for a moment, spacing out briefly about what she needed to do. The white hedgehog reached a hand out and touched his shoulder.

His reaction was immediate, the black hedgehog spun around, startling Hope, and grabbed the arm that touched him. They stood there for a moment, just looking at each other. After a moment, the black hedgehog released Hope's arm. He was speechless, but it didn't seem to matter. There could be no words at this time. Shadow's eyes fell down to the floor, but they could make out nothing, they were blurred by tears that he had loosed earlier.

Something brushed by his neck and he looked up as Hope moved into him. Her fur was like fleece, and it wrapped around his neck in a gentle hug. Hope's head landed on his chest, her face hidden in his white chest fluff. His only thoughts at this time were blank nonsensical things; however, it didn't matter at all. Shadow finally hugged her back, resting his cheek on the flat of her top spike, he closed his eyes, and stood there for who knows how long, in each other's embrace.


	14. Chapter 14

Shadow waited over by the park bench the next day, where he and Hope had their first date. He glanced at his cell phone, more specifically, the text he sent to Hope the previous day after they came back to the Acorn Kingdom. He thought about when they were on ARK, just hugging. It wasn't really anything special, just a hug, but now he felt it necessary to tell Hope something important. It was 2:55 when the white hedgehog showed. She smiled sweetly, "Hey, what's up?"

Shadow stood up, smiling as well, "Nothing really, how about you?"

Hope shrugged, "I got the rest of the files to Sally. Nothing other than that, really."

"Okay then." Shadow smiled, he became a little sheepish as he prepared his confession, "I wanted to... to tell you something."

"Okay. What is it?"

Shadow glanced back at the bushes, his heart beating hard. He just had to tell her, but the black hedgehog had no idea what she'd say or even think of him. A nervous and expectant silence proceeded for the next few minutes when Tails interrupted with tears threatening his eyes, "Guys! Someone broke into the garage and stole the emerald!"

Dr. Eggman was adding his finishing touches to his machine. The final robot came in and presented the last of the emeralds. Dr. Eggman grabbed the magical gem greedily and looked at his machine, his whole plan was laid out in front of him, all he needed now was a test subject: Hope, the creation who betrayed the master.

Sonic got the news from Tails, he sniggered, "Hope again, I'll bet."

Tails frowned, "Hope had nothing to do with it. According to my security cameras, it was one of Eggman's robots." Sonic fell silent and looked away. Tails sighed, "Not everything that goes on is her fault, Sonic. She did it once, she won't do it again."

"Prove it." Sonic demanded, "Prove to me that she's different."

Tails frowned, he didn't have the proof, at least not on him. The yellow fox sighed and replied, "I can't prove it..." Tails gave Sonic a determined look, "...But when you're better, you'll see for yourself."

Sonic shrugged, "Or maybe she's been playing all of you for suckers."

Tails left soon after that questioning Hope's intentions, if she had any.

Hope hurried off to the Freedom Fighter headquarters to get briefed, as well as almost all of the other Freedom Fighters. The tomboy princess stood on the stage, a projector was stationed in the audience facing her in case she was going to use it. When everyone was settled, Sally reported news that no one wanted to ever hear:

"Dr. Eggman has all of the Chaos Emeralds."

At first, none were incredibly worried, "We still have the Master Emerald." Someone from the back stated.

Knuckles the Echidna, the guardian of the Master Emerald, shook his head, "No, Eggman has the Master Emerald too. All I know is- it's still on Angel Island, but without it- we have no way on stopping him. And with Sonic in the hospital for another couple months, we need someone else to take them back."

Everyone's hands shot up, expecting volunteers.

Princess Sally motioned for everyone to put their hands down, "I've already chosen who's going for the chaos emeralds." Quiet muttering came from the crowd. Sally waited for silence before she continued, "But there's another threat with us at this moment." Sally produced a letter and she read it aloud.

"My pathetic resistance,  
I'm happy to inform you that this is the last day you will oppose me, because I have a spy among your own beloved Freedom Fighters. Either you can stay and wait for your demise, or meet me over in the plains at 3:30 this afternoon to know who the spy is.  
Dr. Eggman"

Dead silence came after the letter, "Who could the spy be?" everyone wondered. Sally sighed, "As far as I know, this letter could just be a hoax, to get us out in the open so Dr. Eggman can get in. But if it's real, and there is a phony, we have no choice but to meet his demands." Gasps and mutters followed, Sally raised her hand for silence, the crowd quieted down. Continuing with a smile, "We're not all going to face him. I'm going to leave some of you here to protect the city. There's a post on the door on the way out stating who will be staying to protect the city. Dismissed."

The crowd dispersed to the doors to see if their name was on the list. Hope felt disappointed when her name was shown on the "Staying" post. The white hedgehog left the auditorium and waited for Sally to come into the hall. Hope asked, "We both know I can stand up to him, why am I not going?"

Sally replied, "Many others are going to ask the same thing. The thing is, I need just as many people willing to protect the city as there are to go face Dr. Eggman..." Still seeing Hope disappointed the princess added, "...Plus you've been hurt by him already." The white hedgehog looked up and Sally continued, "Tails told me that when you were talking with Sonic, Dr. Eggman kidnapped you."

"Oh, yeah. That." Hope muttered, slightly annoyed that Tails hadn't told anyone anything completely true.

"Which reminds me, why does Sonic hate you so much?" Sally asked, "It seems like whenever something happens, he wants to blame you."

Hope looked away briefly, "It's nothing I'm proud of, let me tell you that... despite what he thinks. When Sonic and I were 'talking' to each other, I... I thought he was setting me up to be kidnapped."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Sally crossed her arms, "By that, what are you implying?"

"What it sounds like. I honestly thought at that time, Sonic was working either with or for Dr. Eggman." Sally was about to interrupt, but Hope continued, "I know now that it was a misunderstanding, but at that time I was furious with him."

Sally sighed, "So you got Shadow to beat Sonic up?"

Hope shook her head, "No, Shadow had nothing to do with it."

"But Tails..."

"I know what Tails said." Hope interrupted, "But I know what happened. Tails... He's trying to help, but with that he's also not helping."

"So... It wasn't Shadow who put Sonic in the hospital."

Hope shook her head, "Again, I'm not proud of what I did."

"Then... What else was Tails 'trying to help, but not helping' with?"

Hope smiled and shook her head, "It's better off if you don't know. And, from what I've heard about from everyone, it's unbelievable anyway."

"Hope, as princess, I need to know, unbelievable or not."

Hope paused for a moment, looking at the princess, finally she sighed and said, "When I was being kidnapped by Dr. Eggman, Sonic didn't do anything to help me. They talked for briefly about a deal and Sonic left."

Sally gave Hope a scoff, "I can't believe that."

"Nor can anyone else." The white hedgehog glanced away for a moment, then turning to Sally once more Hope replied, "I _did_ say it was unbelievable, but that's what happened."

Sally shook her head, "I won't believe it. Sonic's been the Hero of Mobias for years, why would he make a deal with Dr. Eggman?"

"From what I've been able to piece together is that Sonic made a bet with Shadow, of which he originally thought he couldn't lose, but when I came here Sonic feared that he would lose."

"And if he lost he'd decide who he'd marry." Sally interrupted.

Hope nodded, "Yeah. But he doesn't want to make that decision, since it would leave either you or Amy hurt, and so he was desperate. Desperate enough to make a deal with Dr. Eggman."

"But over a bet?" Sally asked, "I still think that's a flimsy motive."

Hope shrugged, "Again, that's just what I've pieced together based on what I know is fact and what I've heard from."

"Have you talked to Sonic?"

Hope scoffed, "As if he'd even listen to me."

Sally gave Hope a hurt look, "So you're accusing Sonic of something unthinkable, and yet you haven't even tried talking to him about it?"

Hope sighed and looked down, "No... I haven't..."

Sally frowned, "Then since you're staying behind to protect the city, you need to go talk to Sonic."

"But..."

"That's an order."

Unable to argue further, Hope merely nodded and muttered a,"yes, princess" before leaving to go to the hospital and meet Sonic again, knowing full well that it wouldn't go over well.


	15. Chapter 15

Sally couldn't, and wouldn't, believe Hope's information. She knew Sonic wouldn't even consider the thought. But it _was_ true, Sonic hates Hope and now he's in the hospital because of her. His motive was very shaky, and because of that, Hope's information was only at her word. The tomboy princess wasn't about to think too hard on that topic, she needed to lead the Freedom Fighters to their stand off, and that was more important at the moment.

The Freedom Fighters Sally had called to join her in the parley were waiting in her office. Sally said a few words of caution and a review over her plans if Dr. Eggman tried to attack them, if he showed up at all. With that, she and the others with her moved out and hurried over to the plains.

Shadow raced through the Eggfleet, looking to find the chaos emeralds. Surprising to him, it was pretty much barren, and that made him nervous. Dr. Eggman was planning an all-out attack against the Acorn Kingdom. Shadow passed a room and stopped, inside he couldn't believe his eyes. Not only were all the chaos emeralds there, but Hope was as well, she laying on the floor covered in blood. Shadow smelled a trap, but he was more worried about Hope. He hurried over and bent down, no pulse, and her body was as cold as metal. Shock enveloped Shadow so much, he failed to notice one of his androids behind him. Darkness swallowed the black hedgehog as he fell down due to being hit on the back of the head. The 'Hope' he was fretting over moved and picked him up. The Shadow Android motioned to follow, and the Hope android did so.

Dr. Eggman watched as the two robots carried the unconscious hedgehog into the bridge where every last of Dr. Eggman's robots were waiting, android and scrap heap that still worked. The mad doctor pointed to a tile on the floor and snapped his fingers. The Shadow android moved to take its place and the Hope android moved onto the tile, dropping the black hedgehog and stepped off. Dr. Eggman pressed a button and a cage closed around Shadow. The plan was almost complete, all he needed now was to wait.

He waited until the clock struck three for when he sent his "Egg-Eye", a robot that flew with a webcam and a television so he could talk to someone without having to meet them face-to-face, to meet the Freedom Fighters. A second Egg-Eye was stationed near him so that it truly was a two-way communication.

The Egg-Eye turned on and Sally, as well as a couple other of the Freedom Fighters appeared on the screen. Sally was miffed, "I thought you told us to meet you here."

"Hohoho, princess, I'm afraid you've misunderstood."

"Pfeh, it doesn't matter. Is there a spy or are you pulling our legs?" Sally demanded.

"OHhohoho! Straight to the point! Yes, there is a spy. And as proof..." Dr. Eggman stepped aside, letting the heroes see Shadow unconscious in the cage, "This cage was made particularly for Shadow, if he tries to escape, it will suck his energy each time he tries. Now, as for my spy... I'll tell you once the hedgehog wakes up."

"How long will that take?"

"Not long..." Dr. Eggman chuckled wickedly. A shadow android walked up to the unconscious hedgehog and jabbed him in the gut, not only waking him up, but also putting him in a bad mood. The black hedgehog looked up and growled,

"Dr. Eggman! Where's Hope?"

Dr. Eggman stepped aside, Hope's android was an exact duplicate of the original, the doctor even made sure to sand the points to make them smooth. Shadow's eyes widened then darkened. The Egg-Eye pointed towards Dr. Eggman... and the fake Hope.

The freedom fighters were stunned, and it started to make more sense to Sally. Sonic didn't have a reason, and Hope pretended to be kidnapped and to be mad at him. Sally demanded, "Is this the spy?"

"Yes." Dr. Eggman smiled, "Except not her, this..." He patted the metal hedgehog, "... is just my copy. The real Hope should either be with you or is..."

Sally's eyes widened and she gasped, "Still in the Acorn Kingdom."

Shadow couldn't believe it. Hope wouldn't ever do such a thing. The black hedgehog stood to protest but was knocked down by an android. The black hedgehog could only watch as Sally and the Freedom Fighters retreated back to the kingdom. The mad doctor chuckled to himself saying quietly, "Finally, my revenge on that little wench."

Shadow heard Dr. Eggman's vengeful laugh, and he sighed in relief that it was a lie. But he had to stop Sally from doing something she would regret. He gripped the bars and pulled back on them, it took more energy than he realised it would, and they still didn't budge. "Hope..." the hedgehog thought, "... Get out of there..."

Hope grumbled to herself as she walked into Sonic's room. A heavy air greeted her inside, Sonic obviously didn't want to see her anymore than she wanted to see him. Hope sighed, "I don't want to be here either, but Sally ordered me to come and apologize."

Sonic raised an eyebrow, "I'm glad the princess can talk some sense into you." He frowned once more, "Too bad the damage is done."

"Indeed." Hope muttered, louder, she continued, "At any rate, Sally knows what happened and not Tails' good-intentioned lie."

"Heh, how'd that go?"

"She's..." Hope considered her words before replying, "... Skeptical, about it. She doesn't completely believe that you had any motive to kidnap me and give me away to a madman and..."

"Hey! I came back!" Sonic interrupted, raising his voice and himself into a sitting position. Hope stopped and Sonic muttered, "Shadow met up with me and reminded of what has happened in the past... Dr. Eggman was flying above water when I tried to go back so I had to find Tails."

"Why... Why didn't you say that before?" Hope asked.

"I tried to." Sonic huffed, "You didn't let me before now."

Hope looked away, "Fine, you've made your point." the white hedgehog glanced back at the invalid, "What now?"

"What's Eggman up to? I don't get the news in here."

Hope sighed, "He's claimed that he's planted a spy in the Freedom Fighters corps. I think it's a hoax, but Sally and a few others are going to parley for the information."

"And the emeralds?" Sonic asked, "Tails came in a little while ago that his was stolen again."

Hope returned Sonic's glare, "First off, that was because I had little other choice. And second, I learn from my mistakes. It wasn't me. Tails even caught the culprit on camera. So talk to him before you make accusations."

"I didn't say anything." The blue hedgehog smirked, "Again, what about the emeralds?"

"Currently... It's not good news. Dr. Eggman has all of them." Sonic groaned and Hope continued, "And the Master Emerald has been taken, it's still on Angel Island, but it isn't where Knuckles guards it. As far as I know, Team Chaotix is taking care of that, but it may be a little while before we can actually do something."

Sonic muttered, "Of all the times Dr. Eggman had to attack, it had to be now."

"The Freedom Fighters can handle it, you know that." Hope smiled.

Sonic shrugged, "Well, I can't do anything right now for another, oh, two and a half months." The hero crossed his arms, "I hope you're happy."

"And if I'm not?" Hope asked, "As far as I know, injured or not, you lost the bet. All this means is that you're going to be single for another 'two and a half months'. Shadow told me that you would have to marry Amy after you're healed."

Sonic groaned, "Argh... I should never had agreed to that."

Hope turned to leave, "And, by the way, Amy's getting everything ready for that." The white hedgehog left the room satisfied while the blue hedgehog groaned even louder.

Hope left the hospital and Tails ran up to her, his eyes wide either with surprise or hurt, or even both, "Hope... Sally... She needs to talk to you."

"About what..?" Hope asked.

Tails looked down and scratched his ear, "Dr... No, forget it." Tails looked up at Hope, "Run away from here, get as far as possible away from the Acorn kingdom before it's too late!"

"What?" Hope gave Tails a look of alarm, "Why?"

"Dr. Eggman claimed you were the spy." Tails explained, "I... I just know he's lying... But all of the Freedom Fighters are riled up against you now."

"What about you?" Hope asked.

"I'll... I'll stall them as long as I can..." Tails explained, "But you have to go now!"

Hope nodded and ran off towards the forest at the east. Tails turned around to wait for the Freedom Fighters to catch up to him. The fox swallowed his doubts about Hope, "If anyone I know is the spy, it wouldn't be Hope... She doesn't have a reason..."

The white hedgehog bolted between the trees, still wondering why Dr. Eggman singled her out. Realization kicked in and she feared the worst. Was Dr. Eggman telling her the truth? Was she an experiment? The white hedgehog slowed down to a walk to ponder the new thought, never expecting a dark figure to be following her.

Shadow sat down in the cage and figured out a way to trick an android into freeing him. He stood up and an android moved to whack him down, but the black hedgehog dodged and twisted the android's arm around one of the bars. The android pulled back and, POP, the bar came out. Shadow raced out of there and hurried out of the bridge to find Dr. Eggman.

The good ole' doctor was putting some finishing touches on a huge robot with the chaos emeralds inside its cockpit, which was full of a blue liquid that looked like it was electrified. "Doctor." Shadow said, gaining Eggman's attention, "Hope isn't your spy, I know it."

"Hohoho! Why do you say that, Shadow? Is it because Hope's your girlfriend or is it because you think I'm lying?"

"Both reasons. Plus I heard you earlier." Shadow replied darkly, he glared at the mad doctor, "Why Hope of all people?"

"Oh? She didn't tell you?" Dr. Eggman jeered, "Well then, I'll tell you. Hope is my project, just like you were my grandfather's."

"What..?" Shadow shook his head, "That can't be."

"Oh-ho! But it is!" Dr. Eggman grinned victoriously, "She in fact is my creation, despite what you want to believe." Eggman turned back to his robot, "Behold! My robot will destroy all and will create the Eggman Empire!"

Shadow glanced up at the robot, "How can it?" He bent down and chambered a jump, "When it's missing the emeralds?" Glass crashed and Shadow grabbed the chaos emeralds, the blue liquid seeped into his quills, making them stick out slightly from static. The black hedgehog put the emeralds away and bolted off, dodging the robots Dr. Eggman had called, and skating off to the Acorn Kingdom.

"Search everywhere! She can't have gone too far!" Sally shouted to the army of Freedom Fighters behind her. Tails stood in front of the hospital, he was a little nervous, probably because he never expected that Hope was a spy. Sally looked back down at the young fox, "Are you _sure_ you didn't see her?"

Tails nodded, "Yeah. I'm sure..."

"Sally!" Shadow skated up to them, "I've got the emeralds. Where's Hope?"

"We're still looking for her." Sally replied, "I doubt she got too far." The acorn princess gave the black hedgehog a concerned look, "I'm sorry about Hope though, I know you were close."

"I don't think Eggman was telling the truth." Shadow replied, "She doesn't have a reason to work for him."

"Doesn't she?" Sally asked, "Dr. Eggman could have persuaded her with land to rule."

"Hope... She isn't someone who'd care about that." Shadow explained, "I don't think she's a spy. In fact, I doubt there is a spy."

"In that case, why would Dr. Eggman want her gone?" Sally asked.

Shadow looked away, "I don't know." He lied, "I haven't figured that out yet."

"Uh huh. Well tell me if you have a reason, whether Hope is innocent or not, we need to find her." Sally waved Shadow off before shouting, "Hurry up, guys! The more time we take the sooner she'll get to Eggman!"

"You don't think Hope's a spy?" Tails asked quietly.

"No. I _know_ She isn't a spy." Shadow replied.

"... Then... I can tell you this..." Tails motioned Shadow to move closer. Shadow, skeptical, bent down, "... Hope went into the forest just east of here."

Shadow stood up straight and glanced at Tails, he didn't look like he was lying, so the black hedgehog nodded and skated off towards the forest.

Hope was lost. Lost in the forest where every tree looked like the one next to it, even if they had nothing in common. The white hedgehog's neck fur stood up someone was following her. She glanced behind her, nothing but foliage. Hope swallowed hard and backed up, "He-hello? Is someone there?" She backed up into something, she moved away from whatever it was as if it was acid. Hope faced whatever she bumped into, a black hedgehog who looked almost exactly like Shadow. The spikes were the same, the markings looked similar, just grey-scale. His eyes though, they were mostly purple with red irises and his pupils was like a snake's. "Are you lost?" His mouth didn't move, in fact... he didn't have a mouth.

Hope took a step back, her voice was shaking, "What makes you think I am?"

The hedgehog seemed to smile, "Because you've been walking in circles."

Hope heard some shouting behind her, and she looked back at the hedgehog, "Listen, I need to get going." She moved to walk past him, but he grabbed her. His voice seemed to be laughing,

"Leave? Not now. I've barely gotten to know you."

Hope screamed in surprise as the dark hedgehog leaped into a tree with her in hand. Hope could hear shouting from below as well as her captor, "Tch, let's go where we won't be noticed."

"Nngh! Let go of me!" Hope hissed, barely above a whisper.

"Now, now. You're being chased by the Freedom fighters. You don't want me to let you go here, do you?"

Hope exhaled, whoever this hedgehog was, he had a point. The last thing she needed was to be captured by the Freedom Fighters. The mysterious hedgehog chuckled as he received no reply, "Very well, my dear. Let's go."

The hedgehog lifted Hope over his shoulder before bounding off. Beneath where they were was Shadow, who not only heard everything, he also knew who Hope's mysterious visitor was. "Mephiles" He growled before running after them.


	16. Chapter 16

"Tails, where did Shadow go?" Sally asked, briefly distracting herself from the search.

Tails shrugged nervously, "I dunno."

"You're horrible at lying, Tails. You know where he went." Sally smiled knowingly.

Tails moaned a little before saying, "He... Shadow went into the forest... to the west... I told him that she may have gone there... to hide..."

"The west? The headquarters are that way." Sally said, partially to herself, "Why would Hope hide there?"

"Well," Tails thought hard, "Maybe because she thought you wouldn't look there, because it was so obvious."

"You... Have a really good point there." Sally reasoned, she motioned to the closest group of Freedom Fighters, "Get a search going at the West Woods! Hope may have gone there to hide!" The group nodded and hurried away towards the woodlands on the other side of the Acorn Kingdom.

Tails thought, "Hope, I really hope you aren't actually over there."

Hope was being carried off by a mysterious hedgehog for no reason except that he knew of a safer place than the woods. Still, she wished he would let her down so that she could run as well. The sound of rushing water caught Hope's attention and she tried to look towards the sound, but she was pressed back down by her captor, "Not yet. We're not there yet."

"Where are we going?" Hope asked impatiently, "And who are you?"

"HOPE!" A familiar voice shouted from below, Hope tried to look down, but was prevented by the hedgehog.

"That's someone trying to kidnap you." the mystery hedgehog hissed.

"Like you're one to say." Hope scoffed to herself.

"HOPE!" The voice shouted again.

Hope struggled to look at who was trying to talk to her, each time she tried, the hedgehog stopped her in some way. She huffed, "Who is that?"

"It doesn't matter."

"I need to know if he's a friend."

"He isn't."

"How do you know that?"

"I just do. No one is truly your friend. Everyone is out to get you."

Hope squirmed, "I don't care. I want to see."

"Stop it." He said harsh and firm. Hope stopped, only from the surprise from the intensity of his words. "Fine. If you want to know, It's Shadow."

Hope's heart leaped, "Shadow's my friend."

"You really think that?"

"I know it." Hope replied, her mood clearing up, "He's my closest friend."

Hope couldn't see the darkening of her captor's eyes, "Is he now?"

Shadow was in hot pursuit of Mephiles and Hope, she slung over his far shoulder. Shadow never altered his gaze from the pair and he shouted once more, "HOPE!"

The white hedgehog seemed to hear, but Mephiles bumped her again so they couldn't quite see each other. Shadow growled loudly, "MEPHILES LET HER GO!"

"Mephiles..?" Hope asked, "Is that your name?" The dark hedgehog only glared at her. They fell onto the ground and he dumped her onto the grass unceremoniously. "Hey!" She cried, "What was that for?"

Mephiles kept glaring at her, "I thought you were just some hedgehog who got herself into some trouble. But you had to bring _him_ here."

"What..?" Hope gave Mephiles a quizzical look. He brought out a long rope from nowhere and Hope swallowed hard, "What... What are you doing?"

"Don't worry my dear, it will be over in no time." Mephiles said with a low and dangerous voice, he bent down as if to tie her up.

Hope bent backwards, not sure of what was going on, but she knew that she was in danger, and she was not in a good position to defend herself. She moved as far away as she could before bumping into a tree. Mephiles walked towards her, his rope still in his hands. The white hedgehog swallowed hard, and something crashed into the scene. "Wha..!" Mephiles growled as a cliff almost smashed into him. Voices from above shouted,

"It's got the Master Emerald!"

"Someone, grab it!"

"I'm TRYING! It's deflecting my hits!"

Mephiles glanced back over at Hope, she still distracted by the huge island. He leaped at her and bound her to the tree she had backed herself into. "Don't struggle, it won't help you." He walked up to her and produced an aluminum baseball bat and smacked it into his hand thrice. A black blur knocked him away.

"Shadow!" Hope cried, recognizing the figure.

"Hope, get away from here!"

Hope nodded and struggled against her bonds, after a minute of no luck, "I... I can't..."

Shadow glared down as Mephiles disappeared into darkness. The black hedgehog untied the rope and Hope got up quickly, "Who, or what, was that?"

"Mephiles. Mephiles the Dark." Shadow explained.

"Okay..." Hope rubbed her arms, "Do you know where we are?"

Shadow nodded, "South Woods. At least that's what people in the Acorn Kingdom call it."

"What is it actually called?"

Shadow shrugged then looked back at Hope, "I need to know something. Are you..."

"... A spy? No, I'm not. I don't want to have anything to do wi..."

"I wasn't going to ask you that." Shadow interrupted, "I was asking you if Dr. Eggman created you."

Hope looked at Shadow, surprise written across her face, "How..?"

Shadow's eyes narrowed a little, "It's true..?"

Hope looked at the ground and said quietly, "I don't know... I don't want to believe it... But Dr. Eggman told me that I was."

"You don't believe him?"

Hope shook her head, "No. At least, I don't want to believe it."

"It gives him reason to do this to you though." Shadow said. Hope glanced up at him in question. He was about to explain when an earthquake due to rockets exploded from nowhere. Hope and Shadow fell down onto the ground, a huge robot appeared over the trees, a large solitary emerald in its cockpit.

"What can we do against that thing?" Hope asked, sounding more afraid than she really felt.

The shaking stopped and Shadow stood up. He retrieved the chaos emeralds and glanced at Hope, "I'm going in."

The emeralds circled around Shadow faster and faster. Hope stood up to watch as Shadow's natural black fur changed into gold, he hovered momentarily in the air before flying off to face the robot. Hope, not wanting to be left behind, followed her friend out in the open. A group of freedom fighters walked up behind her, also looking at the robot. One glanced at her and asked, "Are you happy now?"

Hope looked at the freedom fighter incredulously, "I'm surprised of you. How can you think that I would be happy that everything I've ever cared about has been taken from me because of a rumor that I was a spy!" Hope realized that her voice was rising and she was shouting, she turned away and faced the robot, she continued, still talking to the scolded officers, "If you still think I'm a spy, then I'll show you otherwise." Hope walked forward, while Shadow was bumping around the gigantic robot, barely making a dent.

The robot was close to a hundred feet tall, at least it seemed that was to the white hedgehog by its foot. She glanced up at it and wondered, "What am I doing? I'm not strong enough to beat this." She sighed, "But I've got no choice if I want to redeem myself." She glanced at her hand, now curled into a fist, and then at the metallic foot. She punched down at it and the metal curled around her fist, she pulled it back. Almost no change occurred except a dent in the robot's foot. "How can I do more damage to it?" She wondered. Something dropped next to her, two gold rings. A sonic-boom exploded above, Hope looked up as Shadow was bursting with energy, trying to do significant damage to the robot. Hope looked down at the rings in her hand. "Are these... Shadow's?" She considered a thought then shrugged, "I don't have a better idea." She tossed the rings aside and popped hers off as well. Power and energy overwhelmed the white hedgehog. Light and energy escaped like a fireball around her. Attempts to contain it were useless, and it felt like it pulled her apart. Hope desperately groped for her rings and put them back on. She fell onto her hands, barely keeping herself up. She looked up, to see a large metal hand fall on top of her.

Shadow didn't know what had happened. One moment the robot was swatting at him like a fly, a flash of white light, and the thing is scrap metal. The chaos energy was starting to disappear and Shadow landed to look for his rings before the chaos energy was all gone. After a couple minutes of searching, he found them and placed them back on his wrists. He stepped away from the carnage and two Freedom Fighters ran past him into the rubble. Confused Shadow demanded, "What are you two doing here?"

One of them, who just happened to be on top of the hand Hope had fallen under, shouted, "Hope came up here just before the blast."

"WHAT?!" Shadow shouted, mix of surprise and terror flooded his features.

"I... I think I found her!" The one who answered Shadow announced, lifting up an unconscious white and pink hedgehog.

"Huh?" Shadow asked, now seeing that there were five other hedgehogs around. The pink one the freedom fighter was holding regained consciousness,

"Oh... Hai." She smiled before dropping back to sleep.

The other freedom fighter scratched his head and asked, "How many 'Hope's are there?"

Shadow glanced over them, "I've counted six, but where's the real Hope?"

The other 'Hope's started to wake up, including the pink one. Shadow mouthed their colors, "Pink, blue, green, yellow, purple, silver, and then Hope's light blue..." He recalled seeing similar colors somewhere before. Suddenly the hand started to shift over and both of the freedom fighters shouted, "HOPE!"

Shadow hurried over, and sure enough, Hope was there, her back turned to them. "Hurry, get her onto a stretcher." One of them told the other. Shadow ignored them and lifted Hope, "We can't wait, I'll take her there myself."

"Wait." A female voice called, Shadow looked back and saw the white and green hedgehog who looked like Hope, "Perhaps we should introduce ourselves later."

Shadow nodded, and asked, "How did you get here also?"

The green hedgehog smiled and replied, "I'll explain everything later."

Shadow didn't want to argue at that moment, so he hurried off to the hospital with Hope in his arms. He passed Sally Acorn, who was more than confused of the six other Hedgehogs entering the Acorn Kingdom as well.


	17. Chapter 17

~ Three days later ~

Hope woke up in the hospital, her head ached from the loss of energy she had, and she was sure she was getting hallucinations when she saw six other hedgehogs who looked like her as well. The pink one smiled, "HIYAS!"

"Uh... Hi..?" Hope asked, "Who are you?"

"Chaos clones." the green one answered, "When a massive amount of chaos energy is released and fails to be contained, it creates six chaos clones."

"Yupperz! I'm Charity!" The pink one smiled, "I symbolize the red chaos emerald!"

"Comfort." The yellow grinned, "I'm also the yellow emerald, if that isn't obvious already."

"Knowledge." Said the green, "I represent both the Master Emerald and the green chaos emerald."

"Breeze" smiled the blue, with an added wink, "Dark blue chaos emerald"

"Silence" said a black and violet hedgehog with a soft and creepy smile, "I represent the purple emerald."

"Uh... Faith." Smiled the silver hedgehog sheepishly, "I... I guess I'm the white emerald..."

"Nice to meet you all." Hope smiled, almost sure that they were hallucinations.

"Shadow was here earlier." Charity said, "He was really concerned on how you were doing." Her mood didn't alter from childish optimism.

"But, there is good news too." Knowledge said, "Sonic's out of here as well. We got permission from Knuckles to use the Master Emerald to do a massive heal on him. Not only is Sonic able to run again, but he's slightly faster than before."

"That's... Good... I guess." Hope smiled, "How about Amy? Have they gotten hitched yet?"

"Umm..." They all muttered at once, "Not quite..."

"He bolted, we haven't seen him since." Silence huffed, "The jerk. But," she continued, "They WILL get married when we find him."

"Well... Okay... What about me? Can I leave yet?" Hope asked.

Knowledge nodded, "Yes, the doctor said you can leave whenever you're ready."

Hope hopped out of bed, "Let's go then."

"ALRIGHT!" Charity laughed.

Knowledge coughed, "Charity, you mind go getting Shadow? He's probably in the waiting room."

"Yes SIR!" Charity mocked a salute before marching dramatically towards the waiting room. A couple of nurses snickered as Charity passed.

Hope was followed by her 'chaos clones' the rest of the way home, and they told her as well that they had decided to be roommates in the apartment next to hers. Hope wasn't sure to either be thrilled or embarrassed as the realization of reality came upon her, that these hedgehogs were real and not hallucinations. "Hope!" Shadow called from behind her.

"Oh, Hi Shadow."

"What were you thinking?" Shadow demanded, "Going up to that robot, I mean."

Hope looked away, "I honestly don't know. Everything after the earthquake is still a little fuzzy."

Shadow sighed, "Well, uh... I... I still need to tell you something, but... It can wait until tomorrow." The black hedgehog started to leave.

"Shadow, you can tell me now." Hope insisted. Shadow looked up at her and shook his head,

"No, it can wait for tomorrow. It's late... I'll meet you at our bench at three tomorrow, Okay?"

"I... Okay." Hope nodded. She watched Shadow go up the stairs to where his apartment was before entering into her own.

The next day came faster than Shadow felt comfortable. He had to ask Hope. He's lost too much before, and the last thing he needed- or wanted- was to lose someone else. He sat down on the bench waiting for Hope to come once again. Shadow waited there for a minute before Hope walked up, "Hey." She greeted him.

"Hey." He smiled at her. Hope took the seat next to him and asked, "Well, what is it that you wanted to tell me?"

Shadow swallowed, and looked up at Hope, "I just wanted to tell you that... I..."

Sonic was hiding in a tree above Hope and Shadow. He glanced down and thought of a little devious thing to do. He snuck out of the tree and walked up behind Shadow. Hope noticed the blue hedgehog and was about to alert Shadow when Sonic pushed Shadow into Hope, instead of the expected head-bash, Sonic pushed them into a kiss. Sonic shrugged, "Oh well, blackmail is good eno..." He held up the camera on his phone and then dropped it. He started to feel embarrassed watching them kiss and he started to walk away.

Hope broke out of the kiss first, her face bright red, Shadow seemed a little reluctant to break away. Hope laughed nervously, "Sonic... Was behind you... I..." She felt the blood rush to her cheeks and she looked down at her shoes.

The kiss seemed to give the black hedgehog confidence on what he was going to say, clearing his throat he started his confession, "Hope... What I've been meaning to tell you for a while now... is that I love you."

"Really?" Hope asked, looking up into Shadow's red eyes. They were soft as they glanced back at her.

"Yes." He replied.

Hope smiled brightly and she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly whispering, "I love you too."

Shadow wrapped his arms around her waist and they hugged each other for a minute before going their ways.

"SONIIIIIC!" An all-too familiar voice screeched behind the blue hedgehog, who then groaned. The blue hedgehog had no time to run before his admirer caught up to him, "I've been looking EVERYWHERE for you!"

"I wish you hadn't" He wanted to say, instead, "I've been looking for you too... Uh..."

Amy smiled and let go of the blue hedgehog and winked, "Don't worry, you don't need to ask. My answer is yes."

Sonic felt his face go slightly red and Amy laughed. This leaves us with a happy ending, that is... unless you're Sonic.


	18. Epilogue

Hope strolled in the park, glancing at all the flowers and thinking about how that day's ceremonies were going. Apparently that was the day Sonic and Amy were going to be married, but Hope wasn't keen on being in the same room as Sonic. The white hedgehog looked up at the sky, clouds scraped across patches of blue. the sky peeked out where the clouds were thinnest. She sighed happily, not even rain could dampen her mood. The sky got dark quickly- too quickly to be normal. Hope, curious, glanced up at the sky. The Eggfleet was flying overhead, headed towards Angel island, where the service was being held.

Hope huffed, "Oh, I thought it was something important." she thought aloud, then shrugged, "Oh, well, it doesn't matter..." Hope kept walking, but she couldn't shake the feeling that she needed to help out. Eventually the white hedgehog caved in and raced along the huge shadow the Eggfleet cast towards the ceremony.

Sonic grumbled to himself and wished that anything would happen to get him out of this. His wish was granted when a large shadow fell upon the crowd. "The Eggfleet" Sonic grinned as he thought that he could escape. Hope stepped onto the cliff and followed the Eggfleet with her eyes, disappointed that she came all that way on a wild goose chase. Sonic also glanced at the Eggfleet shouting at it through his mind, "You had one job! One job! To cause trouble in your wake! Why couldn't you do that now?"

The ceremony ended swiftly without any other interruptions. Hope decided to stay for the rest of it, since she was there. But she went home before the reception. The last thing Amy really wanted at that point in time was for Sonic and Hope to brawl- and that would have been inevitable had Hope stayed. The white hedgehog climbed up the stairs to her apartment and passed Shadow, who decided to skip the ceremony and only go to the reception (and that only because Tails begged). "Where are you going, Hope?" He asked, "I thought you enjoyed parties."

"I do... Usually." Hope replied, "I just don't like being in the same room as Sonic."

"You still aren't over that, are you?" The black hedgehog asked.

"Oh, I'm way over it." Hope shrugged, "But Sonic isn't."

Shadow rolled his eyes, "Well, goodnight then."

"Night." Hope nodded a farewell to Shadow before continuing up the stairs to her apartment.

Shadow stayed on the stairs a little longer, watching Hope disappear behind the banister. The black hedgehog stood there thinking, "I could tell Tails I was there at the reception... He wouldn't ever know the difference..." He turned around and walked up the stairs to Hope's apartment and knocked.

Hope opened the door and smiled slightly, "Didn't want to go either?"

Shadow shrugged, "I'm sure someone will post a video of it on the internet. Mind if I come in?"

Hope stepped aside so her friend could come in, "Sure." She closed the door behind him and motioned to the TV, "I was just going to watch whatever was on."

Shadow nodded, "I guess I'll join you then." He sat down on the couch facing the set. Hope sat down next to him, and pressed the power button on the remote. They sat there watching "Pink Panther" for the rest of the evening.

Morning came before Shadow even noticed he had fallen asleep. He bolted into a sitting position and glanced down at Hope, who had also fallen asleep. The TV was still on, and though he still felt groggy, Shadow felt happier than he had been, even before the ARK incident.

The End


End file.
